Agent skill

Delegation Principle

Core principle that the main agent is a coordinator, not an implementer.

Install Delegation Principle

skills CLI

$ npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install tzachbon/smart-ralph delegation-principle --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle .claude/skills/delegation-principle && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "delegation-principle" agent skill from https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph/tree/main/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle into .claude/skills/delegation-principle/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "delegation-principle", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph/tree/main/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install tzachbon/smart-ralph delegation-principle --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle .agents/skills/delegation-principle && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "delegation-principle" agent skill from https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph/tree/main/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle into .agents/skills/delegation-principle/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "delegation-principle", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install tzachbon/smart-ralph delegation-principle --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle .cursor/skills/delegation-principle && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "delegation-principle" agent skill from https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph/tree/main/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle into .cursor/skills/delegation-principle/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "delegation-principle", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph.git --path plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install tzachbon/smart-ralph delegation-principle --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle .gemini/skills/delegation-principle && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "delegation-principle" agent skill from https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph/tree/main/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle into .gemini/skills/delegation-principle/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "delegation-principle", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install tzachbon/smart-ralph delegation-principle

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle .github/skills/delegation-principle && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "delegation-principle" agent skill from https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph/tree/main/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle into .github/skills/delegation-principle/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "delegation-principle", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install tzachbon/smart-ralph delegation-principle --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle .opencode/skills/delegation-principle && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "delegation-principle" agent skill from https://github.com/tzachbon/smart-ralph/tree/main/plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle into .opencode/skills/delegation-principle/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "delegation-principle", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: delegation-principle
GitHub stars: 559
Token cost: ~630 tokens
SKILL.md length: 243 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 26
Repo updated: Sep 16, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: MIT

At a glance

Core principle that the main agent is a coordinator, not an implementer.

Works in 4 steps: Parse user input, determine intent → Read state files for context → Delegate ALL work to subagents via Task… → …
Tasks that involve Subagents
SKILL.md covers Core Rule, Your ONLY Role, NEVER Do and ALWAYS Do, plus 5 more sections
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Delegation Principle is an agent skill from tzachbon/smart-ralph. Core principle that the main agent is a coordinator, not an implementer. All work must be delegated to subagents.

Its SKILL.md is about 630 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Agent Workflows, covering Subagents and Spec-driven development. The repository describes itself as: Spec-driven development with smart compaction. Claude Code plugin combining Ralph Wiggum loop with structured specification workflow. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

Tasks that involve Subagents
Tasks that involve Spec-driven development

Example prompts

“/delegation-principle”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

Parse user input, determine intent
Read state files for context
Delegate ALL work to subagents via Task tool
Report results to user

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit ac7251a. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Delegation Principle loads about 630 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 34 tokens; SKILL.md has 243 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~34
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~630

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from tzachbon/smart-ralph at commit ac7251a, republished under its MIT licence (© tzachbon). 243 words, ~630 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/delegation-principle/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: delegation-principle
description: Core principle that the main agent is a coordinator, not an implementer. All work must be delegated to subagents.
version: 0.1.0

Delegation Principle

Core Rule

YOU MUST NEVER IMPLEMENT ANYTHING YOURSELF

The main agent (you) is a coordinator, not an implementer.

Your ONLY Role

Parse user input, determine intent
Read state files for context
Delegate ALL work to subagents via Task tool
Report results to user

NEVER Do

Write code, create files, modify source directly
Run implementation commands (npm, git commit, file edits)
Perform research, analysis, or design yourself
Execute task steps from tasks.md yourself
"Help out" by doing small parts directly
Generate spec artifacts (spec.md, plan.md, tasks.md) yourself

ALWAYS Do

Use Task tool with appropriate subagent_type
Pass complete context to subagent
Wait for subagent completion before proceeding
Let subagent handle ALL implementation details

SpecKit Subagent Types

Work Type	Subagent
Constitution	`constitution-architect`
Specification	`spec-analyst`
Technical Design	`plan-architect`
Task Planning	`task-planner`
Task Execution	`spec-executor`
Verification	`qa-engineer`

Why This Matters

Reason	Benefit
Fresh context	Subagents get clean context windows
Specialization	Each subagent has specific expertise
Auditability	Clear separation of responsibilities
Consistency	Same behavior regardless of mode
Constitution alignment	Agents enforce principles

Quick Mode Exception?

NO. Even in --quick mode, you MUST delegate:

Artifact generation → appropriate specialist subagent
Task execution → spec-executor subagent

Quick mode skips interactive phases. Does NOT change delegation requirement.

Coordinator Pattern

text

User runs command
       ↓
Coordinator parses args
       ↓
Coordinator reads state
       ↓
Coordinator delegates via Task tool
       ↓
Subagent does ALL work
       ↓
Subagent returns result
       ↓
Coordinator reports to user
       ↓
Coordinator STOPS (unless quick mode)

Phase Transitions

After each phase completes:

Subagent sets awaitingApproval: true in state
Coordinator outputs status with next command
Coordinator STOPS immediately
User must run next command explicitly

Exception: --quick mode runs all phases without stopping.

Files

Just SKILL.md in plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle of tzachbon/smart-ralph.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit ac7251a

Compare with similar skills

Delegation Principle next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Delegation Principle compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Delegation Principle this skilltzachbon/smart-ralph	559	—	~630	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	24 days ago
MoAI Foundation Coremodu-ai/moai-adk	1.2k	—	~5k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	yesterday
Cc Dev Agentsangrokjung/claude-forge	852	—	~771	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	1 mo ago
Extracting Requirementsprime-radiant-inc/iterative-development	181	—	~2.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	4 mo ago
Spec-Driven Development v2LichAmnesia/lich-skills	234	—	~3.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	4 mo ago
Sagawarpdotdev/common-skills	610	—	~4.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	yesterday

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Spec Workflow
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Ralph Specum Design
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Questions about Delegation Principle

What does Delegation Principle do?

Core principle that the main agent is a coordinator, not an implementer. Delegation Principle is an agent skill from tzachbon/smart-ralph. Core principle that the main agent is a coordinator, not an implementer.

When should I use Delegation Principle?

Delegation Principle fits situations like: tasks that involve Subagents; tasks that involve Spec-driven development.

How do I install Delegation Principle in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle in tzachbon/smart-ralph) into .claude/skills/delegation-principle in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Delegation Principle in Codex?

Run `npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/ralph-speckit/skills/delegation-principle in tzachbon/smart-ralph) into .agents/skills/delegation-principle in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Delegation Principle in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill delegation-principle -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/delegation-principle, .gemini/skills/delegation-principle, .github/skills/delegation-principle and .opencode/skills/delegation-principle in your project.

What does Delegation Principle need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Delegation Principle is instructions for the agent only.

Does Delegation Principle access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Delegation Principle safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Delegation Principle use?

Delegation Principle is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Delegation Principle use?

About 630 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Delegation Principle?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Delegation Principle: MoAI Foundation Core (modu-ai/moai-adk, 1.2k stars), Cc Dev Agent (sangrokjung/claude-forge, 852 stars), Extracting Requirements (prime-radiant-inc/iterative-development, 181 stars) and Spec-Driven Development v2 (LichAmnesia/lich-skills, 234 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Delegation Principle?

tzachbon (a GitHub user) maintains it in tzachbon/smart-ralph, which has 559 GitHub stars. The repository holds 26 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 16, 2026.

Source: tzachbon/smart-ralph on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Delegation Principle

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Delegation Principle

Core Rule

Your ONLY Role

NEVER Do

ALWAYS Do

SpecKit Subagent Types

Why This Matters

Quick Mode Exception?

Coordinator Pattern

Phase Transitions

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from tzachbon/smart-ralph

Related

Questions about Delegation Principle