{"version":"2.1.271","anchor":"taskagent-tool-description-gains-a-delegation-costs-first","canonical_anchor":"taskagent-tool-description-gains-a-delegation-costs-first","heading":"Task\/Agent tool description gains a 'delegation costs first' mode","tier":"internal","area":"Subagents","scope":null,"heads_up":null,"url":"https:\/\/changelogs.core-directive.com\/v\/2.1.271\/e\/taskagent-tool-description-gains-a-delegation-costs-first","release_url":"https:\/\/changelogs.core-directive.com\/v\/2.1.271","markdown":"### Task\/Agent tool description gains a 'delegation costs first' mode\n\nTask\/Agent tool's built-in instructions can now include a 'delegation costs first' framing, depending on the build\n\n**Unclear.** What the delegationCostsFirst text actually says or when it's shown is not described beyond the setting names.\n\n**What**\n\nThe Task tool (used to hand off work to a subagent, a separate Claude instance handling part of a task) now supports a `delegationCostsFirst` mode when its description is built. A new helper picks between two related settings depending on whether the client is a \"compiled-only\" build, choosing either `delegationCostsFirstCompiledOnly` or `delegationCostsFirst`.\n\nA prompt capture taken under this release shows the `Agent` tool's stock description is 7,081 characters (its longest text across model variants), unchanged since the previous release.\n\n**Why**\n\nThis adds a way to have the tool's instructions emphasize the cost of delegating to a subagent before other considerations, though the description text itself has not changed yet in what's been captured.\n\n- Area: Subagents\n- Tier: Under the hood\n- Useful: 1\/5\n- Signal: 1\/5"}