lichens-innovation/create-subagent

Create Subagent

Scaffold a new subagent directly inside the chosen plugin of a local marketplace. The root agents/ folder is auto-generated by CI — do not create files there manually.

For Claude Code, subagents are distributed via plugins. The AGENTS.md format is also compatible with other coding tools (Cursor, Copilot, Codex, Gemini, VS Code, Zed).

User's intention

$ARGUMENTS

References

Consult the relevant doc(s) before generating subagent content in auto mode or before making structural decisions in manual mode:

• docs/subagents.md — subagent usage, AGENTS.md format, coordination tips
• docs/plugins.md — plugin structure, manifest, hooks and relative paths
• docs/hooks.md — hook lifecycle, PreToolUse / PostToolUse, hook scripts
• docs/skills.md — skill format, popular repositories, skills CLI
• docs/marketplace.md — marketplace structure, registration, publishing, versioning, auto-updates
• docs/rules.md — rules format and scope
• docs/mcp.md — MCP server configuration
• docs/memory.md — memory system, persistent memory for subagents
• docs/skills-cli.md — skills CLI commands
• docs/claude-code.md — Claude Code settings, commands, IDE integrations

Workflow

1. Create agent file — the form data submitted by the user was injected into your context as additionalContext by the UserPromptExpansion hook. It is a JSON object with mode and target fields.

   Target dispatch — the JSON includes a target field that determines where the subagent lives:

   • target: "marketplace" — the JSON has marketplacePath and plugin. Write to <marketplacePath>/plugins/<plugin>/agents/<name>/AGENTS.md.
   • target: "project" — the JSON has projectPath (the user's cwd). Write to <projectPath>/.claude/agents/<name>.md as a single file (no enclosing directory). This is a project-local subagent, not registered in any marketplace.

   Behaviour also depends on mode:

   Auto mode (mode: "auto") — the JSON contains { mode, target, name?, idea, triggers, tools, ...destination } where destination is either { marketplacePath, plugin } or { projectPath }, and triggers/tools are string arrays:

   • Use name if provided, otherwise derive a concise kebab-case name from the idea.
   • Build the description frontmatter value:
     • Take the first sentence of idea as the "what" clause.
     • If triggers is non-empty, append Use when + the chips joined naturally (Oxford-style with "or" before the last item). If empty, append Use when <trigger condition>. as a placeholder.
     • Clip the full description to 140 characters.
   • Set the tools frontmatter to the comma-joined tools array (or omit the line if empty).
   • Generate complete, ready-to-use AGENTS.md content: a clear role description, when-to-apply conditions, full step-by-step workflow, and expected output format — as if a domain expert wrote it. Do not leave placeholder text.

   Manual mode (mode: "manual") — the JSON contains { mode, target, name, description, triggers, tools, ...destination } where triggers and tools are string arrays:

   • Use all provided values as-is.
   • Build the description frontmatter: "<description>. Use when <triggers joined with ', ' and 'or' before the last>." If triggers is empty, use the raw description only.
   • Set the tools frontmatter to the comma-joined tools array (or omit if empty).
   • Create a minimal skeleton the user will fill in:

   ---
   name: <name>
   description: "<built description>"
   tools: <comma-joined tools>
   ---
   
   # <Title Case of name>
   
   Instructions for AI coding agents acting as <name>. See [agents.md](https://agents.md/) for the format.
   
   ## Role — workflow
   
   ### When to apply
   
   <triggers joined as a sentence, or a placeholder if empty>
   
   ### Workflow
   
   1. Step one
   2. Step two
   
   ### Output
   
   Describe the expected output format here.
   

2. Hooks If the subagent needs event hooks, add them to the plugin rather than user settings so they're distributed automatically. See Hooks and Relative Paths.

3. Report to user

   • Report the path where the subagent was created:
     • Marketplace target: <marketplacePath>/plugins/<plugin>/agents/<name>/AGENTS.md
     • Project target: <projectPath>/.claude/agents/<name>.md
   • Next steps:
     • Fill in the file with the full workflow (manual mode)
     • For marketplace targets only: update the marketplace so the agent becomes visible: claude plugin marketplace update
     • Project subagents are picked up automatically by Claude Code running in that project.