deepseek-harness/packages/subagent/subagent-claude-code/README.md

description, kind

description	kind
The one-shot Claude Code subagent provider for users and maintainers choosing a product backend, installing a Profile bundle, or configuring an unattended Claude Code delegation.	package-bundle

@deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent-claude-code

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Summary

dsh-subagent-claude-code registers a Profile-named Claude Code subagent provider (default claude-code) that runs a real Claude Code CLI child in the delegating session's workspace through the official Agent SDK. Each accepted run submits one self-contained text task and returns the strict final answer — or a separate safe failure diagnostic — through the shared subagent result contract. The provider ships as an optional Profile Bundle: installing it brings the pinned Agent SDK and one compatible platform CLI payload, while the registered provider stays dormant until a bound tool calls it. Native Claude settings and authentication remain authoritative, and the Profile-selected permissionMode decides how the unattended query handles permission checks. Choose it when the child should be a genuine Claude Code product session, fully isolated from the parent harness.

Table of Contents

• Use this package
• Understand the implementation
• Further Exploration
• Model Experience
• Known Limitations and Deferred Work
• Dev Note

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Use this package

Mount this provider when a delegation should run as a real Claude Code session in the parent's workspace. The common path is explicit: install the Bundle into a Profile, optionally configure the provider row, and expose it to the model through a delegation tool row.

Installing the Bundle

Install the package into the target Profile, then restart that Profile. The installation brings the pinned Agent SDK and one compatible platform CLI payload into the Profile; the declared patch layer registers only the dormant provider and starts no Claude process.

dsh plugin --profile <name> add @deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent-claude-code
dsh plugin --profile <name> remove @deepseek-ai/dsh-subagent-claude-code
dsh --profile <name>

Removing the package withdraws the provider and its private runtime closure on the next Profile start. Installation controls Host availability, not model permission: the model can only reach the provider through a delegation tool row you compose.

Configuration

Field	Default	Meaning
providerName	claude-code	Non-empty registry name on ctx.subagents; each mounted instance needs a unique value
model	native Claude settings	Optional non-empty model name fixed for every run from this provider instance; omission sends no SDK override
env	{}	Explicit SDK/CLI environment layered over the credential-scrubbed parent environment
permissionMode	dontAsk	Native non-interactive permission policy fixed for every run from this provider instance
disposeGraceMs	3000	Grace between the shared process-tree owner's termination tiers

permissionMode value	Native behavior
dontAsk	Deny operations that are not already authorized instead of prompting
acceptEdits	Accept file edits; any remaining permission prompt is denied by the unattended callback
auto	Let Claude Code's native classifier allow or deny permission requests
plan	Run in native planning mode, deny execution approval, and return the completed plan as the final answer
bypassPermissions	Explicitly set the SDK's dangerous confirmation and bypass permission checks

The generated configuration catalog is the exhaustive source for every accepted field and its JSDoc. A configured model passes unchanged to every query from that provider instance; omission leaves native model selection in force. Credential-shaped ambient variables are removed before the explicit env overlay, so an API key intended for the child must be supplied there. The provider omits the SDK settingSources option, so Claude Code reads the host's normal user, project, and local settings relative to the parent Session cwd. It does not copy or filter those files, create or modify login state, inspect PATH, or fall back to a host claude executable.

Exposing the tool

Each delegation tool row names one provider and needs its own toolName, so the model sees static tools rather than a dynamic provider selector. Full Agent Presets carry a matching default tool row with disabled: true; copy a preset and remove that field to expose subagent_claude_code only to agents composed from the copy.

- id: jobs
  name: '@deepseek-ai/dsh-jobs-local'
- id: tool-jobs
  name: '@deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-jobs'
- id: tool-subagent-claude
  name: '@deepseek-ai/dsh-tool-subagent'
  config:
    provider: claude-code
    toolName: subagent_claude_code
    backgroundMode: one-shot
    maxDepth: provider-managed

The one-shot policy keeps omitted or false run_in_background calls in the foreground, while explicit true returns a parent-owned Job id for job_output or job_kill; the base host and full presets already provide the generic Job registry and controls.

What you get

A foreground call gives the model the strict final Claude Code answer, or an error with the stop reason and optional safe diagnostic for a failed run. A background call first returns a Job id; the generic job controls later deliver a completion notice and expose the same final answer or failed status through job_output. Claude Code reasoning, tool activity, intermediate messages, stderr, and workspace diffs never enter the parent session.

Failure and recovery

An install that omits optional dependencies, uses an unsupported platform, or loses the selected payload leaves the provider dormant and fails the first delegation at the SDK startup boundary with a safe query-start / unknown failure fact; there is no host-CLI fallback. The original product error stays on the internal cause chain and in the provider's Host log. A cancelled run settles as aborted.

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Understand the implementation

Implementation internals — click to expand

This section explains how the provider drives a real Claude Code CLI and where the observable behavior comes from; the full contract lives in Use this package.

Design concept

• One fresh query per run. Every run has an independent SDK query, cancellation controller, CLI process, and non-persisted product session; there is no continuation, resume, or pooling.
• Native settings are authoritative. The provider deliberately omits the SDK settingSources option, so Claude Code reads the host's normal user, project, and local settings; an optional model and the required permissionMode are the only query-level overrides.
• Unattended by design. AskUserQuestion is disabled and permission prompts are denied except in bypass mode, so the query never waits for a user interface.

Source map

File	Role
src/index.ts	Plugin entry: config schema, provider registration
src/run.ts	The SDK query lifecycle, result acceptance, and permission handling
src/process.ts	Process-tree termination escalation on disposal
cordis.patch.yml	The Profile patch layer that registers the dormant provider

Run flow

A start accepts only a non-empty sequence of text blocks and derives the child cwd from the parent session. It creates a private AbortController, calls the official SDK query() with the exact concatenated task, and publishes the run only after the SDK's custom-spawn hook has supplied a live CLI handle owned by the subprocess seam. The provider iterates the complete message stream and accepts only a result message with subtype: "success", is_error: false, and a nonblank result, followed by normal iterator completion. Every other outcome maps to a fixed-category error diagnostic naming the lifecycle stage and observed process outcome — the category set lives in src/run.ts. Local cancellation wins the result race and maps to aborted without a failure diagnostic.

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Further Exploration

Read these pages when the package-level contract is not enough. They move from this provider to the seam it plugs into and the sibling product provider.

• Subagent subsystem — the service contract, provider contract, and terminal result semantics.
• dsh-subagent seam — the registry and start API this provider registers on.
• Codex subagent provider — the sibling product backend over the official app-server protocol.
• Claude Code and Codex backends — the design record for the product providers.
• Generated configuration catalog — every accepted config field and its source declaration.

---

Model Experience

Child request

What the model sees

The Claude Code child receives the standalone text task as one fresh SDK query. Its workspace is the parent Session cwd; the selected Provider instance fixes the query's configured model, environment, and non-interactive permission mode, while an omitted model and every other product setting come from native Claude configuration. The executable version comes from the Bundle's pinned SDK platform payload.

Token effect

The child pays for an independent Claude Code context and query. Child tokens do not enter the parent's context.

KV Cache effect

Independent of the parent request cache. Reuse depends only on Claude Code's own model, instructions, tools, native settings, and fresh query.

Parent scheduling and results, indirectly

What the model sees

Through dsh-tool-subagent, a foreground call gives the parent the strict final Claude Code answer or an error containing the stop reason and optional safe diagnostic for a non-completed result. That diagnostic can distinguish a coarse action category, lifecycle stage, and observed process outcome without copying raw product text or version-specific subtype names. A background call first returns a Job id; the generic job controls later deliver a completion notice, expose the same final answer or failed status detail through job_output, and let job_kill request cancellation. Claude Code reasoning, tool activity, intermediate messages, stderr, workspace diffs, usage, product ids, tool inputs, and raw protocol payloads are not copied into the parent Session.

Token effect

Foreground input grows by the retained final answer or error. Background input also includes the start acknowledgement, completion notice, and any job_output, job_kill, or later status results; child tokens still do not enter the parent context. This provider adds no parent tool schema by itself.

KV Cache effect

Append-only: foreground adds one result after the reusable parent prefix, while background appends the Job acknowledgement, notice, and later control or collection results. Background scheduling can add a notice-driven turn, but none of these messages rewrites the earlier prefix.

Known Limitations and Deferred Work

These limits define when this provider is a poor fit or needs special operational care. They are current package constraints, not a general Claude Code comparison or a task backlog.

• One fresh query and process per run — there is no continuation, resume, pooling, progress stream, or product-session persistence.
• Static instance selection — Profile rows fix provider names, optional models, and tool bindings; calls cannot choose or change either a provider or model dynamically, and every exposed tool needs a unique toolName.
• Host settings are intentionally authoritative — when model is omitted, project and user settings choose it; native settings always retain the remaining tools and behavior, and the provider does not provide a filtered or hermetic production mode.
• Authentication and account state remain native — the Bundle supplies the CLI but does not create an account, log in, or rewrite Claude settings; configuration and authentication failures surface with their lifecycle stage and the safe unknown fallback rather than a separate public classification.
• The SDK platform payload is required at delegation time — installs that omit optional dependencies, unsupported platforms, and missing or damaged payloads fail at the first query; there is no host-CLI fallback.
• No human interaction path — AskUserQuestion is disabled, permission prompts are denied, MCP elicitation is declined, and blocking dialogs fail closed instead of suspending.
• Assistant payload is final text only — reasoning, intermediate messages, tool traffic, usage, stderr, and workspace diffs remain product-local.
• No optional shared capabilities — agentOptions, output schemas, child personas, tool filtering, and harness depth enforcement are rejected by the shared service for this provider.
• No wall-clock timeout or side-effect rollback — the caller cancels long work, and files or external systems changed before cancellation are not restored.

Dev Note

Working context for maintainers — click to expand

This Dev Note is working context for maintainers: open questions and undecided directions. It is explicitly non-authoritative — shipped behavior and limits live in the sections above and in the package code.

• Payload size disclosure — the current darwin-arm64 platform payload packs to about 92 MB and unpacks to about 325 MB; these are disclosure numbers, not installation thresholds.
• Version-pinned protocol — the runtime dependency is pinned to Agent SDK 0.3.241; upgrading pins a new SDK version and requires re-running the keyless real-product and loader-composition evidence.