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HomeDocsClaude Code CLI 15 Sep 2026
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Create custom subagents changedsub-agents

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2626 
2727Claude Code includes built-in subagents that Claude automatically uses when appropriate. Each inherits the parent conversation's permissions; most run with a restricted tool set.
2828 
29Explore and Plan skip your CLAUDE.md files and the parent session's git status to keep research fast and inexpensive. Every other built-in and [custom subagent](#configure-subagents) loads both. For the full breakdown of what reaches a subagent, see [what loads at startup](#what-loads-at-startup).
29Explore and Plan skip your CLAUDE.md files and the parent session's git status to keep research fast and inexpensive. Every other built-in and [custom subagent](#configure-subagents) loads both, unless its definition sets the [`omitClaudeMd`](#supported-frontmatter-fields) field to skip the user, project, and local CLAUDE.md files. For the full breakdown of what reaches a subagent, see [what loads at startup](#what-loads-at-startup).
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3131<Tabs>
3232 <Tab title="Explore">
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218218 </Tab>
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220220 
221The `--agents` flag accepts JSON with a `prompt` field plus these [frontmatter](#supported-frontmatter-fields) fields: `description`, `tools`, `disallowedTools`, `model`, `permissionMode`, `mcpServers`, `hooks`, `maxTurns`, `skills`, `initialPrompt`, `memory`, `effort`, `background`, and `isolation`. Use `prompt` for the system prompt, equivalent to the markdown body in file-based subagents. Each top-level key in the JSON is the agent's name. Don't start a name with `-`.
221The `--agents` flag accepts JSON with a `prompt` field plus these [frontmatter](#supported-frontmatter-fields) fields: `description`, `tools`, `disallowedTools`, `model`, `permissionMode`, `mcpServers`, `hooks`, `maxTurns`, `skills`, `initialPrompt`, `memory`, `effort`, `background`, `omitClaudeMd`, and `isolation`. Use `prompt` for the system prompt, equivalent to the markdown body in file-based subagents.
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223Each top-level key in the JSON is the agent's name. Don't start a name with `-`.
224 
223225For what Claude Code does with a value it can't load, and the flags and environment variable that skip that check, see [`Invalid --agents configuration`](/docs/en/errors#invalid-agents-configuration).
224226 
225227**Managed subagents** are deployed by organization administrators. Place markdown files in `.claude/agents/` inside the [managed settings directory](/docs/en/managed-settings#delivery-mechanisms), using the same frontmatter format as project and user subagents. Managed definitions take precedence over project and user subagents with the same name.
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297299| `hooks` | No | [Lifecycle hooks](#define-hooks-for-subagents) scoped to this subagent. Ignored for [plugin subagents](#choose-the-subagent-scope) |
298300| `memory` | No | [Persistent memory scope](#enable-persistent-memory): `user`, `project`, or `local`. Enables cross-session learning |
299301| `background` | No | Set to `true` to keep this subagent in the background even when Claude asks to run it in the foreground. Where [fork mode](#turn-fork-mode-on-or-off) is on, Claude Code already runs the subagents Claude spawns [in the background](#run-subagents-in-foreground-or-background) |
302| `omitClaudeMd` | No | Set to `true` to launch this subagent without the user, project, and local CLAUDE.md files; [managed policy files](/docs/en/memory#how-claude-md-files-load) still load, except for [managed subagents](#choose-the-subagent-scope). Use it for subagents that take everything they need from the [delegation prompt](#what-loads-at-startup). Ignored when the agent runs as the main session agent via `--agent` or the `agent` setting. Requires Claude Code v2.1.271 or later |
300303| `effort` | No | Effort level when this subagent is active. Overrides the session effort level. Default: inherits from session. Options: `low`, `medium`, `high`, `xhigh`, `max`; available levels depend on the model |
301304| `isolation` | No | Set to `worktree` to run the subagent in a temporary [git worktree](/docs/en/worktrees), giving it an isolated copy of the repository branched by default from your [default branch](/docs/en/worktrees#choose-the-base-branch) rather than the parent session's `HEAD`. The worktree is automatically cleaned up if the subagent makes no changes |
302305| `color` | No | Display color for the subagent in the task list and transcript. Accepts `red`, `blue`, `green`, `yellow`, `purple`, `orange`, `pink`, or `cyan` |
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828831claude --agent code-reviewer
829832```
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831The subagent's system prompt replaces the default Claude Code system prompt entirely, the same way [`--system-prompt`](/docs/en/cli-reference) does. `CLAUDE.md` files and project memory still load through the normal message flow. The agent name appears as `@<name>` in the startup header so you can confirm it's active.
834The subagent's system prompt replaces the default Claude Code system prompt entirely, the same way [`--system-prompt`](/docs/en/cli-reference) does. `CLAUDE.md` files and project memory still load through the normal message flow, even when the agent's definition sets [`omitClaudeMd`](#supported-frontmatter-fields).
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836The agent name appears as `@<name>` in the startup header so you can confirm it's active.
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833838This works with built-in and custom subagents, and the choice persists when you resume the session: Claude Code restores the agent's tool restrictions and model along with the conversation. If the agent no longer exists when you resume, the session continues with the default tools and shows a [warning naming the agent](/docs/en/errors#session-agent-no-longer-available). For the system prompt in either case, see [System prompt flags in resumed conversations](/docs/en/cli-reference#system-prompt-flags-in-resumed-conversations).
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835840For a plugin-provided subagent, you can pass only the agent name and Claude Code finds it:
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10301035* **System prompt**: the agent's own prompt plus environment details that Claude Code appends, not the Claude Code system prompt. Custom subagents define theirs in the [markdown body](#write-subagent-files) or `prompt` field. Built-in agents have predefined prompts.
10311036* **Task message**: the delegation prompt Claude writes when it hands off the work.
1032* **CLAUDE.md files**: every level of the [CLAUDE.md hierarchy](/docs/en/memory#how-claude-md-files-load) the main conversation loads, including `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`, project rules, `CLAUDE.local.md`, and managed policy files. The built-in Explore and Plan agents skip this.
1037* **CLAUDE.md files**: every level of the [CLAUDE.md hierarchy](/docs/en/memory#how-claude-md-files-load) the main conversation loads, including `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`, project rules, `CLAUDE.local.md`, and managed policy files. The built-in Explore and Plan agents skip this. A subagent whose definition sets [`omitClaudeMd`](#supported-frontmatter-fields) loads only the managed policy files, or none at all when the definition comes from [managed settings](#choose-the-subagent-scope).
10331038* **Git status**: a snapshot taken at the start of the parent session. Absent when the working directory isn't a Git repository or when [`includeGitInstructions`](/docs/en/settings-reference#includegitinstructions) is `false`. Explore and Plan skip it regardless.
10341039* **Preloaded skills**: full content of any skill named in the agent's [`skills` field](#preload-skills-into-subagents). Built-in agents don't preload skills.
10351040* **Sibling roster**: a system reminder listing `main` and every other named agent in the session, each a valid `to` value for [`SendMessage`](#resume-subagents). Requires Claude Code v2.1.206 or later. The roster appears only when the subagent's tools include `SendMessage` and at least one other agent has a name, whether Claude named it when spawning it or it runs as an [agent team](/docs/en/agent-teams) teammate. It is a snapshot taken when the subagent starts, so agents named later don't appear.
10361041 
1037Explore and Plan are the only subagents that omit CLAUDE.md and git status. There is no frontmatter field or per-agent setting to change which agents skip them.
1042To launch one of your own subagents without the user, project, and local CLAUDE.md files, set [`omitClaudeMd: true`](#supported-frontmatter-fields) in its frontmatter or `--agents` JSON.
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1039The main conversation reads Explore and Plan results with full CLAUDE.md context, so most rules don't need to reach the subagent itself. If a rule must, such as "ignore the `vendor/` directory," restate it in the prompt you give Claude when delegating.
1044The main conversation still has your full CLAUDE.md when it reads these subagents' results, so most rules don't need to reach the subagent itself. If a rule must, such as "ignore the `vendor/` directory," restate it in the prompt you give Claude when delegating.
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1046You can't change which subagents receive git status. Only Explore and Plan skip it.
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10411048Some main-conversation state never reaches a non-fork subagent:
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