Glossary

Subagents

Subagents are specialized AI assistants that handle specific types of tasks. Each runs in its own context window with a custom system prompt, specific tool access and independent permissions.

Use one when a side task would flood your main conversation with search results, logs or file contents; the subagent does the work and returns a summary.

Several vendor plugins bundle subagents, such as a database or deployment specialist, so Claude Code can delegate service-specific work.

Source: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents (Claude Code docs)

Other terms