Subagents

What is a subagent

A subagent is a named, prompt-shaped specialist (description, systemPrompt) that the main agent can delegate to via mcp__kanna__delegate_subagent. Kanna ships first-class CRUD, mentions, parallel runs, and live progress.

When the main agent delegates

@agent/<name> in chat input is a hint, not server-side routing. The main model decides whether to delegate. It calls the MCP tool with { subagent_id, prompt } and the tool blocks until the run completes.

Subagent UI

• Sidebar panel: lists all configured subagents with their description
• Live activity label: shows what each running subagent is currently doing (MCP progress notifications)
• Parallel runs: multiple subagent runs can be in-flight in the same turn

Creating a subagent

1. Settings → Subagents → Add
2. Fill in name, description (this is what the main agent reads to decide when to delegate), and systemPrompt
3. Save

Cycle detection

LOOP_DETECTED is returned when a subagent tries to delegate to itself or to an ancestor in the chain. DEPTH_EXCEEDED when depth > maxChainDepth (default 1).