From fc3d59f6f9426da09f77c8f05b9cbb547a7d0645 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Rizel Scarlett <rizel@squareup.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2025 23:27:24 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] docs: Subagents (#3402)

Co-authored-by: angiejones <jones.angie@gmail.com>
---
 documentation/docs/experimental/index.md      |   5 +
 documentation/docs/experimental/ollama.md     |   2 +-
 documentation/docs/experimental/subagents.md  | 286 ++++++++++++++++++
 documentation/docs/guides/config-file.md      |  11 +
 .../docs/guides/environment-variables.md      |  17 ++
 5 files changed, 320 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 documentation/docs/experimental/subagents.md

diff --git a/documentation/docs/experimental/index.md b/documentation/docs/experimental/index.md
index 2dbee27c..722f4305 100644
--- a/documentation/docs/experimental/index.md
+++ b/documentation/docs/experimental/index.md
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ The list of experimental features may change as Goose development progresses. So
 <div className={styles.categorySection}>
   <h2 className={styles.categoryTitle}>🧪 Experimental Features</h2>
   <div className={styles.cardGrid}>
+      <Card 
+      title="Subagents"
+      description="Independent instances that execute tasks while keeping your main conversation clean and focused. Run tasks sequentially or in parallel with process isolation and context preservation."
+      link="/docs/experimental/subagents"
+    />
     <Card 
       title="Ollama Tool Shim"
       description="Enable tool calling capabilities for language models that don't natively support tool calling (like DeepSeek) using an experimental local interpreter model setup."
diff --git a/documentation/docs/experimental/ollama.md b/documentation/docs/experimental/ollama.md
index 4b23f361..4a2c271c 100644
--- a/documentation/docs/experimental/ollama.md
+++ b/documentation/docs/experimental/ollama.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: Ollama Tool Shim
-sidebar_position: 1
+sidebar_position: 2
 sidebar_label: Ollama Tool Shim
 ---
 
diff --git a/documentation/docs/experimental/subagents.md b/documentation/docs/experimental/subagents.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..34982c97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/documentation/docs/experimental/subagents.md
@@ -0,0 +1,286 @@
+---
+title: Subagents
+sidebar_position: 1
+sidebar_label: Subagents
+---
+
+Subagents are independent instances that execute tasks while keeping your main conversation clean and focused. They bring process isolation and context preservation by offloading work to separate instances. Think of them as temporary assistants that handle specific jobs without cluttering your chat with tool execution details.
+
+:::warning
+Subagents are an experimental feature in active development. Behavior and configuration may change in future releases.
+:::
+
+## How to Use Subagents
+
+To use subagents, ask Goose to delegate tasks using natural language. Goose automatically decides when to spawn subagents and handles their lifecycle. You can:
+
+1. **Request specialized help**: "Use a code reviewer to analyze this function for security issues"
+2. **Reference specific recipes**: "Use the 'security-auditor' recipe to scan this endpoint"  
+3. **Run parallel tasks**: "Create three HTML templates simultaneously"
+4. **Delegate complex work**: "Research quantum computing developments and summarize findings"
+
+You can run multiple subagents sequentially or in parallel.
+
+| Type | Description | Trigger Keywords | Example |
+|------|-------------|------------------|---------|
+| **Sequential** (Default) | Tasks execute one after another | "first...then", "after" | `"First analyze the code, then generate documentation"` |
+| **Parallel** | Tasks execute simultaneously | "parallel", "simultaneously", "at the same time", "concurrently" | `"Create three HTML templates in parallel"` |
+
+:::info
+If a subagent fails or times out (5-minute default), you will receive no output from that subagent. For parallel execution, if any subagent fails, you get results only from the successful ones.
+:::
+
+
+## Prerequisites
+To use subagents, you need to enable alpha features first. You can do this by setting an [environment variable](/docs/guides/environment-variables#experimental-features) or adding it to your [config file](/docs/guides/config-file#experimental-features):
+
+**Environment Variable:**
+```bash
+export ALPHA_FEATURES=true
+```
+
+**Config File** (`~/.config/goose/config.yaml`):
+```yaml
+ALPHA_FEATURES: true
+```
+
+## Internal Subagents
+
+Internal subagents spawn Goose instances to handle tasks using your current session's context and extensions. There are two ways to configure and execute internal subagents:
+
+1. **Direct Prompts** - Quick, one-off tasks using natural language instructions
+2. **Recipes** - Reusable, structured configurations for specialized subagent behavior
+
+### Direct Prompts
+Direct prompts provided for one-off tasks using natural language prompts. The main agent automatically configures the subagent based on your request.
+
+**Goose Prompt:**
+```
+"Use 2 subagents to create hello.html with 'Hello World' content and goodbye.html with 'Goodbye World' content in parallel"
+```
+
+**Tool Output:**
+```json
+{
+  "execution_summary": {
+    "total_tasks": 2,
+    "successful_tasks": 2,
+    "failed_tasks": 0,
+    "execution_time_seconds": 16.2
+  },
+  "task_results": [
+    {
+      "task_id": "create_hello_html",
+      "status": "success",
+      "result": "Successfully created hello.html with Hello World content"
+    },
+    {
+      "task_id": "create_goodbye_html", 
+      "status": "success",
+      "result": "Successfully created goodbye.html with Goodbye World content"
+    }
+  ]
+}
+```
+
+### Recipes
+Use [recipe](/docs/guides/recipes/) files to define specific instructions, extensions, and behavior for subagents. Recipes provide reusable configurations that can be shared and referenced by name.
+
+**Creating a Recipe File**
+
+`code-reviewer.yaml`
+
+```yaml
+id: code-reviewer
+version: 1.0.0
+title: "Code Review Assistant"
+description: "Specialized subagent for code quality and security analysis"
+instructions: |
+  You are a code review assistant. Analyze code and provide feedback on:
+  - Code quality and readability
+  - Security vulnerabilities
+  - Performance issues
+  - Best practices adherence
+activities:
+  - Analyze code structure
+  - Check for security issues
+  - Review performance patterns
+extensions:
+  - type: builtin
+    name: developer
+    display_name: Developer
+    timeout: 300
+    bundled: true
+parameters:
+  - key: focus_area
+    input_type: string
+    requirement: optional
+    description: "Specific area to focus on (security, performance, readability, etc.)"
+    default: "general"
+prompt: |
+  Please review the following code focusing on {{focus_area}} aspects.
+  Provide specific, actionable feedback with examples.
+```
+
+**Place your recipe file where Goose can find it**
+- Set [`GOOSE_RECIPE_PATH`](/docs/guides/recipes/recipe-reference#recipe-location) environment variable to your recipe directory
+- Or place it in your current working directory
+
+**Goose Prompt**
+```
+Use the "code-reviewer" recipe to analyze the authentication feature I implemented
+```
+
+**Goose Output**
+```
+I'll use your code-reviewer recipe to create a specialized subagent for this analysis.
+
+🤖 Subagent created using code-reviewer recipe
+💭 Analyzing authentication function for security issues...
+🔧 Scanning code structure and patterns...
+⚠️  Security vulnerabilities detected!
+
+## Code Review Results
+
+### Critical Issues Found:
+1. **SQL Injection Vulnerability**: Direct string interpolation in SQL query
+2. **Missing Password Hashing**: Plain text password comparison
+
+### Recommendations:
+- Use parameterized queries or ORM
+- Implement proper password hashing (bcrypt, scrypt)
+- Add input validation and sanitization
+```
+
+## External Subagents
+
+External subagents let you bring in AI agents from other providers and platforms, enabling Goose to coordinate and integrate your workflow with the broader ecosystem. In the below example, we use Codex as a subagent by running it as an MCP server:
+
+**[Goose Configuration File](/docs/guides/config-file)** (`.~/.config/goose/config.yaml `):
+```yaml
+subagent:
+  args:
+  - mcp
+  bundled: true
+  cmd: codex
+  description: OpenAI Codex CLI Sub-agent
+  enabled: true
+  env_keys:
+  - OPENAI_API_KEY
+  envs: {}
+  name: subagent
+  timeout: 300
+  type: stdio
+```
+
+**External Tool Configuration** (`~/.codex/config.toml`):
+```toml
+# Use fast model for quick responses
+# model = "codex-mini-latest"
+disable_response_storage = true
+
+# Never prompt for approval - auto-execute
+approval_policy = "never"
+
+[sandbox]
+mode = "workspace-write"
+```
+
+**Goose Prompt:**
+```
+"Use the codex subagent to analyze my codebase structure and identify the main components"
+```
+
+**Goose Output:**
+
+```md
+Based on my analysis of your codebase, here are the main components:
+
+1. **Core Agent System** (`crates/goose/src/agents/`)
+   - Agent orchestration and session management
+   - Tool execution framework
+   - Extension system integration
+
+2. **CLI Interface** (`crates/goose-cli/`)
+   - Command-line interface and session handling
+   - Configuration management
+
+3. **Server Components** (`crates/goose-server/`)
+   - HTTP API endpoints
+   - WebSocket communication for real-time interaction
+
+4. **Desktop UI** (`ui/desktop/`)
+   - Electron-based desktop application
+   - TypeScript frontend with React components
+
+The architecture follows a modular design with clear separation between the core agent logic, interfaces, and UI components.
+```
+
+## Suggested Use Cases
+
+**Independent Operations**
+- Creating multiple files with similar structure
+- Basic data processing tasks
+- File transformations and generations
+
+**Context Preservation**
+- Complex analysis that generates lots of tool output
+- Specialized tasks better handled by dedicated agents
+- Keeping main conversation focused on high-level decisions
+
+**Process Isolation**
+- Tasks that might fail without affecting main workflow
+- Operations requiring different configurations
+- Experimental or exploratory work
+
+## Lifecycle and Cleanup
+
+Subagents are temporary instances that exist only for task execution. After the task is completed, no manual intervention is needed for cleanup.
+
+## Configuration
+
+Subagents are automatically have the following pre-configured settings, but you can override any defaults using natural language in your prompts.
+
+### Default Settings
+| Parameter | Default | Source |
+|-----------|---------|--------|
+| **Max Turns** | 10 | Built-in default |
+| **Timeout** | 5 minutes | Built-in default |
+
+### Customizing Settings in Prompts
+
+You can override any default by including the setting in your natural language request:
+
+**Examples:**
+
+```
+"Use subagents to write a test and documentation, but make them timeout after 7 minutes"
+```
+
+```
+""Use subagents to analyze code, limit each to 5 turns""
+```
+
+## Security Constraints
+
+Subagents operate with restricted tool access to ensure safe execution and prevent interference with the main session.
+
+### Allowed Operations
+
+Subagents have access to these safe operations:
+
+- **Extension discovery**: Search for available extensions to understand what tools are available
+- **Resource access**: Read and list resources from enabled extensions for context
+- **Extension tools**: Use tools from extensions specified in recipes or inherited from the parent session
+
+### Restricted Operations
+
+The following operations are blocked to ensure subagents remain focused on their assigned tasks without affecting the broader system state:
+
+- **Subagent spawning**: Cannot create additional subagents to prevent infinite recursion
+- **Extension management**: Cannot enable, disable, or modify extensions to avoid conflicts with the main session
+- **Schedule management**: Cannot create, modify, or delete scheduled tasks to prevent interference with parent workflows
+
+:::info
+Subagents can browse extensions for suggestions but cannot enable them to avoid modifying the parent session.
+:::
diff --git a/documentation/docs/guides/config-file.md b/documentation/docs/guides/config-file.md
index ac2e7ddd..dafabe15 100644
--- a/documentation/docs/guides/config-file.md
+++ b/documentation/docs/guides/config-file.md
@@ -35,6 +35,14 @@ The following settings can be configured at the root level of your config.yaml f
 | `GOOSE_ALLOWLIST` | URL for allowed extensions | Valid URL | None | No |
 | `GOOSE_RECIPE_GITHUB_REPO` | GitHub repository for recipes | Format: "org/repo" | None | No |
 
+## Experimental Features
+
+These settings enable experimental features that are in active development. These may change or be removed in future releases.
+
+| Setting | Purpose | Values | Default | Required |
+|---------|---------|---------|---------|-----------|
+| `ALPHA_FEATURES` | Enables experimental alpha features like [subagents](/docs/experimental/subagents) | true/false | false | No |
+
 Additional [environment variables](/docs/guides/environment-variables) may also be supported in config.yaml.
 
 ## Example Configuration
@@ -59,6 +67,9 @@ GOOSE_CLI_MIN_PRIORITY: 0.2
 # Recipe Configuration
 GOOSE_RECIPE_GITHUB_REPO: "block/goose-recipes"
 
+# Experimental Features
+ALPHA_FEATURES: true
+
 # Extensions Configuration
 extensions:
   developer:
diff --git a/documentation/docs/guides/environment-variables.md b/documentation/docs/guides/environment-variables.md
index 02164bab..27e1e0b0 100644
--- a/documentation/docs/guides/environment-variables.md
+++ b/documentation/docs/guides/environment-variables.md
@@ -273,6 +273,23 @@ These variables configure the [Langfuse integration for observability](/docs/tut
 | `LANGFUSE_INIT_PROJECT_PUBLIC_KEY` | Alternative public key for Langfuse | String | None |
 | `LANGFUSE_INIT_PROJECT_SECRET_KEY` | Alternative secret key for Langfuse | String | None |
 
+## Experimental Features
+
+These variables enable experimental features that are in active development. These may change or be removed in future releases. Use with caution in production environments.
+
+| Variable | Purpose | Values | Default |
+|----------|---------|---------|---------|
+| `ALPHA_FEATURES` | Enables experimental alpha features like [subagents](/docs/experimental/subagents) | "true", "1" (case insensitive) to enable | false |
+
+**Examples**
+
+```bash
+# Enable alpha features
+export ALPHA_FEATURES=true
+
+# Or enable for a single session
+ALPHA_FEATURES=true goose session
+```
 
 ## Notes