background-agents
This skill should be used when the user asks about "parallel agents", "background tasks", "run_in_background", "non-blocking agents", "check agent progress", "TaskOutput", "retrieve agent results", or discusses running multiple agents concurrently. Covers patterns for launching agents in background, monitoring progress, and retrieving results.
What this skill does
# Background Agents - Non-Blocking Parallel Execution
Background agents let you continue working while long-running tasks execute.
Use `run_in_background: true` to launch agents that run without blocking.
## When to Use Background Agents
- Research phases with multiple independent agents
- Pre-commit reviews (code-simplifier + kieran reviewer)
- Any Task that takes >30 seconds and doesn't gate your immediate next step
## Launching Background Agents
Add `run_in_background: true` to Task calls:
```
Task(
subagent_type="compound-engineering:review:kieran-typescript-reviewer",
prompt="Review the changes in this PR",
max_turns: 20,
run_in_background: true
)
```
### Parallel Launch Pattern
Launch multiple agents in ONE message for true parallelism:
```
# Single message with multiple Task calls
Task 1: subagent_type="pr-review-toolkit:code-simplifier" (max_turns: 15, run_in_background: true)
Task 2: subagent_type="compound-engineering:review:kieran-typescript-reviewer" (max_turns: 20, run_in_background: true)
```
## Monitoring Progress
### Check All Tasks
- `/tasks` - List all background tasks with status
- `Ctrl+T` - Toggle task list view in terminal
### Check Specific Task
```
TaskOutput(task_id="task-abc123", block=false)
```
Returns current output without waiting for completion.
## Retrieving Results
### Wait for Completion
```
TaskOutput(task_id="task-abc123", block=true)
```
Blocks until agent completes, returns full output.
### Read Output File
Background agents write to output files. The path is returned when you launch:
```
Task returned: { task_id: "abc123", output_file: "/path/to/output.txt" }
```
Use `Read` tool on output_file path to check progress or results.
## Common Patterns
### Pre-Commit Reviews
```
# Launch both reviewers in parallel
Task(subagent_type="pr-review-toolkit:code-simplifier", run_in_background: true)
Task(subagent_type="compound-engineering:review:kieran-typescript-reviewer", run_in_background: true)
# Continue polishing code while they run...
# Check progress
/tasks
# Retrieve results when ready
TaskOutput(task_id="...", block=true)
```
### Research Phase
```
# Launch all research agents
Task(subagent_type="somto-dev-toolkit:prd-codebase-researcher", run_in_background: true)
Task(subagent_type="compound-engineering:research:git-history-analyzer", run_in_background: true)
Task(subagent_type="somto-dev-toolkit:prd-external-researcher", run_in_background: true)
# Continue interview prep while research runs...
# Retrieve all results
TaskOutput(task_id="task-1", block=true)
TaskOutput(task_id="task-2", block=true)
TaskOutput(task_id="task-3", block=true)
```
## When NOT to Background
- **Complexity estimator** (Phase 5.5) - Need result immediately for next phase
- **Any agent whose output gates the next step** - Must wait for result
- **Quick agents** (<10 seconds) - Overhead not worth it
## Kieran Reviewers by Language
| Language | Agent |
|----------|-------|
| TypeScript/JavaScript | `compound-engineering:review:kieran-typescript-reviewer` |
| Python | `compound-engineering:review:kieran-python-reviewer` |
| Ruby/Rails | `compound-engineering:review:kieran-rails-reviewer` |
### Domain-Specific Reviewers
| Domain | Agent |
|--------|-------|
| Database/migrations | `compound-engineering:review:data-integrity-guardian` |
| Frontend races | `compound-engineering:review:julik-frontend-races-reviewer` |
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