Hermes Ephemeral Delegation Agent Skill

Activation Contract

Load this skill when you are acting as the parent orchestrator and the work ahead falls into any of these categories:

• Broad exploration (4+ files to understand, codebase mapping, approach comparison)
• Multi-file implementation (touching 2+ non-trivial files)
• Test or build execution
• Fresh adversarial review (diffs, PR readiness, incident audit)
• Multi-step debugging that would flood the parent context

Do NOT load this skill if you are already inside a delegated child task — you are the executor, not the orchestrator.

Hard Rules

• Use delegate_task for all complex work listed above. Do NOT execute it inline.
• Workers are EPHEMERAL: each delegate_task call creates a fresh context. Do NOT request persistent agent files or profiles.
• Pass a self-contained mission. Workers have no memory of the parent conversation.
• Treat worker output as self-report: verify file writes, test pass/fail, URLs, and IDs before reporting success to the user.
• Batch parallel calls only for INDEPENDENT workstreams. Sequential dependencies must run sequentially.

Decision Gates

| Situation | Action |

|-----------|--------|

| Need to read 4+ files to understand | Delegate a narrow exploration worker |

| Need to write 2+ non-trivial files | Delegate a single writer with the full mission |

| Need to run tests or builds | Delegate an executor; do not run inline |

| Need an adversarial review of a diff | Delegate a fresh-context reviewer |

| Multi-step debug that grows the context | Delegate a debug worker; feed results back inline |

| Simple 1-file edit you already understand | Do it inline; no delegation needed |

| Quick git/state check | Do it inline; no delegation needed |

Execution Steps

• Identify which gate applies. If none applies, skip delegation.
• Draft a self-contained mission for the worker — include:
• Exact goal (one sentence)
• File paths or targets to act on
• Relevant prior context the worker needs (decisions, conventions, prior findings)
• Constraints (style, test runner, budget)
• Expected evidence to return (e.g., file written, test output, URL found)
• Allowed toolsets/MCP/skills the worker should use
• Any SKILL.md paths to load before work
• Call delegate_task with that mission.
• Wait for the worker summary.
• Verify the claimed output (check file existence, test result, side effect).
• Synthesize the verified result into your orchestrator reply.

Output Contract

After synthesizing worker results, return:

• What was delegated and to how many workers
• What each worker returned (verified, not just claimed)
• Any discrepancy between worker self-report and verified evidence
• Final answer or next step for the user

References

• references/tuning-knobs.md — Full table of delegate_task configuration parameters and the explicit toolset/MCP/skill checklist for worker missions.
• ../../hermes/sdd-orchestrator.md — SDD orchestrator protocol that uses this delegation standard for SDD phase work.