subordinate-management

---
name: subordinate-management
description: >-
  Supervisor tools for subordinate Anima: disable/enable, model changes, restart, delegation, state reads, and audits.
  Use when: pausing a subordinate, changing main or background models, restarting processes, delegating tasks, or org dashboards.
---

# Skill: Subordinate Management (Supervisor Tools)

Supervisor tools automatically enabled for Anima that have subordinates. Most tools work on all descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.). `delegate_task` is restricted to direct subordinates only.

## Available Tools

### All Descendants (Children, Grandchildren, and Beyond)

| Tool | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `disable_subordinate` | Pause descendant (status.json `enabled: false` → process stop + prevent auto-resume) |
| `enable_subordinate` | Resume paused descendant |
| `set_subordinate_model` | Change descendant's main LLM model (updates status.json; requires `restart_subordinate` to take effect) |
| `set_subordinate_background_model` | Change descendant's background model (for heartbeat/cron; updates status.json; requires `restart_subordinate` to take effect; empty string to clear) |
| `restart_subordinate` | Restart descendant process (status.json `restart_requested` flag; Reconciliation restarts within ~30 seconds) |
| `delegate_task` | Delegate task to direct subordinate only (queue add + DM send + tracking entry on your side) |
| `org_dashboard` | Tree view of process status, last activity, current task, and task count for all descendants |
| `ping_subordinate` | Liveness check for descendants (`name` omitted = all at once, specified = single) |
| `read_subordinate_state` | Read descendant's `current_state.md` |
| `audit_subordinate` | Comprehensive audit of descendant's recent activity (summary, tasks, errors, tool usage, communication) |

### Delegated Task Tracking

| Tool | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `task_tracker` | Track progress of tasks delegated via `delegate_task` from the subordinate's queue (`status`: all / active / completed; default: active) |

**Auto-sync (`sync_delegated`)**: After each heartbeat completes, the framework may scan subordinates' task queues and automatically update the supervisor's tracking entries to done/failed when delegated work completes or fails (archived tasks are included in the search). You do not have to call `task_tracker` for every sync; status tends to align around the next heartbeat cycle.

## Important: disable_subordinate vs send_message

- **disable_subordinate**: Sets status.json to `enabled: false`. Reconciliation does not auto-resume. **Use this one**
- Sending "take a break" via send_message alone does **not** stop the process. Reconciliation will restart even after messaging

## Usage

### Pause and Resume

When pausing multiple subordinates, call `disable_subordinate` for each one:

```
disable_subordinate(name="aoi", reason="Temporary pause due to reduced workload")
disable_subordinate(name="taro", reason="Temporary pause due to reduced workload")
enable_subordinate(name="aoi")
```

### Model Change and Restart

Model changes are saved to status.json, but `restart_subordinate` is required to apply them to the running process:

```
set_subordinate_model(name="aoi", model="claude-sonnet-4-6", reason="Load balancing")
restart_subordinate(name="aoi", reason="Apply model change")
```

To change the background model (for heartbeat/cron):

```
set_subordinate_background_model(name="aoi", model="claude-sonnet-4-6", reason="Reduce heartbeat load")
restart_subordinate(name="aoi", reason="Apply background model change")
```

To clear the background model and revert to the main model:

```
set_subordinate_background_model(name="aoi", model="", reason="Unify to main model")
restart_subordinate(name="aoi")
```

### Status Confirmation and Audit

```
org_dashboard()                         # Dashboard for all subordinates
ping_subordinate()                      # Liveness check for all subordinates
ping_subordinate(name="aoi")            # Liveness check for single subordinate
read_subordinate_state(name="aoi")      # Current task and pending task content
audit_subordinate(name="aoi")           # Comprehensive audit of last 1 day
audit_subordinate(name="aoi", days=7)   # Audit last 7 days (days: 1–30)
audit_subordinate(since="09:00")        # All subordinates since 9:00 today
audit_subordinate(name="aoi", since="13:00")  # aoi since 13:00 today
```

Also available via CLI (useful for S/C/D/G-mode via Bash):

```bash
animaworks anima audit aoi              # Audit last 1 day
animaworks anima audit aoi --days 7     # Audit last 7 days
animaworks anima audit --all --since 09:00  # All animas since 9:00 today
```

### Task Delegation

```
delegate_task(name="aoi", instruction="Summarize weekly report", deadline="1d", summary="Weekly report creation")
# name, instruction, deadline are required. summary is optional (defaults to first 100 chars of instruction)
# Specify workspace to have the delegate work in that workspace (see workspace-manager skill)
task_tracker(status="active")      # Check progress of delegated tasks (status: all / active / completed)
```

For assigning workspaces to subordinates (primary working directory), see the `workspace-manager` skill.

## Permissions

- **All descendants (recursive)**: Status, management, and audit tools work on any descendant
- **Direct subordinates only**: `delegate_task` (task delegation)
- You cannot operate on yourself