Subagent-Driven Development

Execute a plan by dispatching a fresh subagent per task, with two-stage review after each — spec compliance first, then code quality.

Core principle: Fresh subagent per task + two-stage review = no context pollution, high quality, fast iteration.

Installation

OpenClaw / Moltbot / Clawbot

npx clawhub@latest install subagent-driven-development

When to Use This Skill

You have an implementation plan with discrete, mostly independent tasks
You want to execute the plan within a single session (no human-in-the-loop between tasks)
Tasks can be implemented and reviewed sequentially without tight coupling

Condition	This Skill	Alternative
Have a plan, same session	Yes	—
Have a plan, parallel session	No	executing-plans
No plan yet	No	Write a plan first
Tasks tightly coupled	No	Manual execution or decompose more

The Process

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. Read plan, extract ALL tasks with full text      │
│  2. Note shared context (arch, deps, conventions)    │
│  3. Create TodoWrite with all tasks                  │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                       ▼
          ┌────── Per Task ──────┐
          │                      │
          │  Dispatch Implementer (references/implementer-prompt.md)
          │       │                                │
          │       ▼                                │
          │  Questions?──yes──► Answer, re-dispatch│
          │       │no                              │
          │       ▼                                │
          │  Implement + test + commit + self-review│
          │       │                                │
          │       ▼                                │
          │  Dispatch Spec Reviewer (references/spec-reviewer-prompt.md)
          │       │                                │
          │       ▼                                │
          │  Compliant?──no──► Implementer fixes──┘
          │       │yes             then re-review
          │       ▼
          │  Dispatch Code Reviewer (references/code-quality-reviewer-prompt.md)
          │       │
          │       ▼
          │  Approved?──no──► Implementer fixes, re-review
          │       │yes
          │       ▼
          │  Mark task complete
          └───────┬──────────────┘
                  ▼
          More tasks? ──yes──► next task
                  │no
                  ▼
          Final cross-task code review
                  ▼
          Finish development branch

Prompt Templates

Three reference prompts are provided for the subagent roles:

Role	File	Purpose
Implementer	`references/implementer-prompt.md`	Implement, test, commit, self-review
Spec reviewer	`references/spec-reviewer-prompt.md`	Verify code matches spec exactly
Code reviewer	`references/code-quality-reviewer-prompt.md`	Verify code is clean and maintainable

Example Workflow

Controller: Reading plan — 5 tasks extracted, TodoWrite created.

─── Task 1: Hook installation script ───

[Dispatch implementer with full task text + context]

Implementer: "Should the hook be installed at user or system level?"
Controller:  "User level (~/.config/hooks/)"

Implementer: ✅ Implemented install-hook command
  - Added tests (5/5 passing)
  - Self-review: missed --force flag, added it
  - Committed

[Dispatch spec reviewer]
Spec reviewer: ✅ Spec compliant — all requirements met

[Dispatch code reviewer with git SHAs]
Code reviewer: ✅ Approved — clean, good coverage

[Mark Task 1 complete]

─── Task 2: Recovery modes ───

[Dispatch implementer]

Implementer: ✅ Added verify/repair modes (8/8 tests passing)

[Dispatch spec reviewer]
Spec reviewer: ❌ Issues:
  - Missing: progress reporting ("report every 100 items")
  - Extra: added --json flag (not in spec)

[Implementer fixes: remove --json, add progress reporting]
Spec reviewer: ✅ Spec compliant

[Dispatch code reviewer]
Code reviewer: Important — magic number 100, extract constant

[Implementer fixes: extract PROGRESS_INTERVAL]
Code reviewer: ✅ Approved

[Mark Task 2 complete]

... (tasks 3-5) ...

[Final cross-task code review]
Final reviewer: ✅ All requirements met, ready to merge

Controller Responsibilities

The controller (you) orchestrates the flow. Key duties:

Responsibility	Detail
Extract tasks upfront	Read plan once, extract all task text — subagents never read the plan file
Provide full context	Give each subagent the complete task text + architectural context
Answer questions	Respond clearly and completely before letting subagent proceed
Enforce review order	Spec compliance first, code quality second — never reversed
Track progress	Update TodoWrite after each task completes
Dispatch sequentially	One implementation subagent at a time to avoid conflicts

Quality Gates

Each task passes through three quality checks:

Gate	Who	What
Self-review	Implementer	Completeness, naming, YAGNI, test quality
Spec review	Spec reviewer	Matches requirements exactly — nothing more, less
Code review	Code reviewer	Clean code, maintainability, test coverage

Advantages

vs. manual execution:

Fresh context per task (no confusion from accumulated state)
Subagents follow TDD naturally
Questions surfaced before work begins, not after

vs. parallel-session plans:

No handoff overhead
Continuous progress
Review checkpoints are automatic

Cost trade-off: More subagent invocations (implementer + 2 reviewers per task), but catches issues early — cheaper than debugging later.

NEVER Do

Skip either review — both spec compliance and code quality are mandatory
Start code review before spec review passes — wrong order wastes effort on code that doesn't meet spec
Dispatch multiple implementers in parallel — causes merge conflicts and context corruption
Make subagents read the plan file — provide full task text directly
Skip scene-setting context — subagent needs to understand where the task fits architecturally
Ignore subagent questions — answer fully before they proceed
Accept "close enough" on spec compliance — if the reviewer found issues, it's not done
Skip re-review after fixes — reviewer found issues → implementer fixes → reviewer reviews again
Let self-review replace actual review — self-review is a first pass, not a substitute
Move to next task with open review issues — current task must be fully approved first
Fix issues manually instead of through a subagent — manual fixes pollute controller context

Handling Failures

Situation	Response
Subagent asks questions	Answer clearly, provide additional context if needed
Reviewer finds issues	Same implementer subagent fixes, reviewer re-reviews
Subagent fails task entirely	Dispatch a new fix subagent with specific instructions
Task blocked by dependency	Reorder remaining tasks or resolve dependency first