Agent Teams Lite

Give any AI coding agent a team of specialized sub-agents.

One install. Works with Claude Code, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, and VS Code Copilot.

Quick Start · How It Works · Commands · Supported Tools · Docs · Contributing

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The Problem

AI coding assistants are powerful, but they struggle with complex features:

• Context overload — Long conversations lead to compression, lost details, hallucinations
• No structure — "Build me dark mode" produces unpredictable results
• No review gate — Code gets written before anyone agrees on what to build
• No memory — Specs live in chat history that vanishes

The Solution

Agent Teams Lite is an agent-team orchestration pattern where a lightweight coordinator delegates all real work to specialized sub-agents. Each sub-agent starts with fresh context, executes one focused task, and returns a structured result.

YOU: "I want to add CSV export to the app"

ORCHESTRATOR (delegate-only, minimal context):
  → launches EXPLORER sub-agent     → returns: codebase analysis
  → shows you summary, you approve
  → launches PROPOSER sub-agent     → returns: proposal artifact
  → launches SPEC WRITER sub-agent  → returns: spec artifact
  → launches DESIGNER sub-agent     → returns: design artifact
  → launches TASK PLANNER sub-agent → returns: tasks artifact
  → shows you everything, you approve
  → launches IMPLEMENTER sub-agent  → returns: code written, tasks checked off
  → launches VERIFIER sub-agent     → returns: verification artifact
  → launches ARCHIVER sub-agent     → returns: change closed

The key insight: the orchestrator NEVER does real work directly. It delegates everything to sub-agents, tracks state, and synthesizes summaries. This keeps the main thread small and stable.

Supports multiple persistence modes — see persistence docs.

How It Works

Three concepts:

1. Delegate-first architecture — Your main agent becomes an orchestrator that delegates all real work to specialized sub-agents. Each sub-agent gets a fresh context, does focused work, and returns only a summary. Learn more →

2. Spec-Driven Development (SDD) — A DAG of phases: explore → propose → spec + design → tasks → apply → verify → archive. Each phase is a skill that any AI agent can run. See the phases →

3. Your skills, pre-loaded — A skill registry catalogs your coding standards (React, TDD, Tailwind, etc.) and the orchestrator passes them to every sub-agent automatically. Details →

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/Gentleman-Programming/agent-teams-lite.git
cd agent-teams-lite
./scripts/setup.sh --all

That's it. The script detects which tools you have installed and configures them.

Windows? Run .\scripts\setup.ps1 -All in PowerShell.

For manual installation or per-tool setup, see docs/installation.md.

Commands

Command	What It Does
/sdd-init	Initialize SDD context. Detects stack, bootstraps persistence, builds skill registry.
/sdd-explore <topic>	Investigate an idea. Reads codebase, compares approaches. No files created.
/sdd-new <name>	Start a new change by delegating exploration + proposal to sub-agents.
/sdd-continue	Run the next dependency-ready phase via sub-agent(s).
/sdd-ff <name>	Fast-forward planning with sub-agents (proposal → specs → design → tasks).
/sdd-apply	Implement tasks in batches. Checks off items as it goes.
/sdd-verify	Validate implementation against specs. Reports CRITICAL / WARNING / SUGGESTION.
/sdd-archive	Close a change and persist final state in the active artifact store.
/skill-registry	Create or update the skill registry for the current project.

Supported Tools

Tool	Sub-agent support	Setup
Claude Code	Full (Task tool)	./scripts/setup.sh --claude
OpenCode	Full (delegate/task)	./scripts/setup.sh --opencode
Gemini CLI	Full (Task tool)	./scripts/setup.sh --gemini
Codex	Full (Task tool)	./scripts/setup.sh --codex
Cursor	Inline only	./scripts/setup.sh --cursor
VS Code Copilot	Inline only	./scripts/setup.sh --vscode
Windsurf	Inline only	./scripts/setup.sh --windsurf

Full = orchestrator delegates to sub-agents. Inline = skills loaded directly into main agent.

Why Not Just Use OpenSpec?

	OpenSpec	Agent Teams Lite
Dependencies	Requires npm install -g @fission-ai/openspec	Zero. Pure Markdown files.
Sub-agents	Runs inline (one context window)	True sub-agent delegation (fresh context per phase)
Context usage	Everything in one conversation	Orchestrator stays lightweight, sub-agents get fresh context
Customization	Edit YAML schemas + rebuild	Edit Markdown files, instant effect
Tool support	20+ tools via CLI	Any tool that can read Markdown (infinite)
Setup	CLI init + slash commands	Copy files + go

Token Economics

We measured the real token costs of delegation across 3 independent analyses. Delegation saves 50-70% of tokens for medium-to-large features by avoiding context pollution and compaction cascades.

→ Full analysis: docs/token-economics.md

Learn More

Topic	Description
Architecture	System diagrams, DAG, capability comparison, project structure
Installation	Per-tool setup, manual install, verification steps
Sub-Agents	Phase descriptions, skill registry, shared conventions
Persistence	Storage modes (engram, openspec, hybrid, none)
Concepts	Delta specs, RFC 2119 keywords, archive cycle
Token Economics	Real-world token usage analysis and optimizations
Changelog	Version history and notable upgrades

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full workflow. TL;DR:

1. Open an issue using a template (bug or feature)
2. Wait for status:approved label
3. Open a PR linking the approved issue

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.

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_{Built by Gentleman Programming}