Delegate a small feature to specialist coding agents
A developer described using separate implementation and review agents to help deliver bounded changes that would otherwise involve several engineering roles.
How this works
A developer described using separate implementation and review agents to help deliver bounded changes that would otherwise involve several engineering roles. Use this for a bounded feature whose implementation and review can be split into clear responsibilities. Delegation should reduce coordination ambiguity without allowing several agents to overwrite shared work or declare completion from unverified messages.
Define one accepted feature scope, assign disjoint or sequential work, and keep a responsible engineer as integrator. Implementation agents produce reviewable patches; a separate review checks defects and conventions. Run meaningful integration validation before treating the combined result as ready.
Before you start
Feature brief
Obtain behavior, acceptance conditions and exclusions.
Repository context
Inspect current state, conventions and existing checks.
Delegation plan
Define ownership, dependencies and the engineer responsible for integration.
Prepare the inputs
- feature_scope
- Required
bounded outcome and acceptance examples
Do not delegate unresolved product decisions as implementation facts.
- repository_snapshot
- Required
revision and local changes
Preserve unrelated work and track each agent's base.
- agent_assignments
- Required
responsibility, allowed files and output
Avoid overlapping edits unless explicitly coordinated.
- validation_plan
- Required
unit, integration and user-flow checks
Use checks that prove behavior, not merely file existence.
Implementation, step by step
Plan responsibilities
- Split implementation, review and validation around real boundaries.
- Give each agent the necessary context and clear stop conditions.
Checkpoint: Ownership and dependencies are explicit.
Prepare isolated work
- Use separate work contexts or disjoint files as appropriate.
- Record the base revision and prohibit unrelated cleanup.
Checkpoint: Parallel work can be reconciled safely.
Implement bounded changes
- Have agents produce focused patches and report actual checks.
- Resolve ambiguity through the integrator rather than divergent assumptions.
Checkpoint: Each contribution is reviewable.
Review independently
- Inspect combined changes for defects, conventions and requirement coverage.
- Do not treat another agent's confidence as test evidence.
Checkpoint: Findings are tied to code and behavior.
Integrate and validate
- Reconcile conflicts carefully and run the relevant combined checks.
- Have the responsible engineer inspect the final diff before integration or release.
Checkpoint: The feature has end-to-end evidence.
Decisions along the way
Tasks require the same shared file
Sequence them or assign one owner rather than parallel conflicting edits.
Agent discovers broader work
Return the scope decision to the integrator.
Independent review finds a defect
Fix it and rerun affected checks before accepting the patch.
What you will produce
feature-change-set
Code patchesA coordinated bounded implementation.
Include: assignment · files · behavior · tests · review
delegation-handoff.md
MarkdownAn accountable integration record.
Include: ownership · results · conflicts · validation · open_issues
Check the result
- Map each acceptance condition to implementation and validation evidence.
- Inspect the combined diff for accidental overwrites.
- Verify reported tests ran on the integrated state.
- Confirm unresolved review findings remain visible.
When something goes wrong
Agents implement inconsistent assumptions
Pause integration and resolve the contract explicitly.
Merge conflict obscures behavior
Inspect both contributions and rerun relevant tests after reconciliation.
An agent stops without artifacts
Mark that contribution incomplete and reassign only the missing work.
A worked example
SYNTHETIC EXAMPLE · NOT A REPORTED BUSINESS RESULT
Request
Synthetic: add a saved-filter indicator.
Inputs
One agent implements the component in its owned file; another reviews accessibility and behavior without editing. Shared state logic remains with the integrator.
Expected result
Synthetic result: combine the bounded component patch, address a keyboard-focus finding and test the saved-filter journey. Do not merge solely because both agents report success.
Run a small pilot
Start small
Delegate one small feature with limited integration boundaries.
Record the baseline
Record coordination time, review defects and integration corrections.
Agree success criteria
Agree ownership and behavioral-validation criteria before larger tasks.
Stop or revise
Stop parallel implementation when shared-state conflicts or unclear scope dominate.
Keep the scope clear
- Delegated agents cannot expand authorization beyond the feature request.
- The responsible engineer retains integration and release accountability.
Check before using
The engineer remains responsible for validation. The practitioner reported weaker results across large codebases and complex integrations; no universal speed or quality gain is established.
Business activities
- Build and change software
FROM A RECIPE TO YOUR WORKFLOW
Bring the company context together.
This workflow needs reliable inputs before it needs a better prompt. Moat8 Vault brings working information into a readable archive for the AI tools you use.
For this recipe: A bounded feature request · Project context and conventions · Role-specific permissions
Start with one recurring task, agree which sources to use, and review the first result with your team.
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