{
  "title": "Subagent results",
  "description": "Return a child agent's findings or work to the parent.",
  "slug": "subagent-result-handoff",
  "locale": "en",
  "seoTitle": "Subagent results compatibility — Can My Agent Use",
  "socialTitle": "Subagent results",
  "socialDescription": "Compare how child-agent summaries, files, citations, diffs, status, and errors return to the parent.",
  "llmSummary": "Subagent results describe what a child returns to its parent. Text summaries, files, citations, diffs, status, errors, and structured result objects are recorded as separate qualifiers.",
  "audience": "Engineers building auditable multi-agent workflows.",
  "contentKind": "feature",
  "status": "published",
  "tags": [
    "runtime",
    "subagents",
    "handoff",
    "provenance"
  ],
  "updated": "2026-08-28T00:00:00.000Z",
  "published": "2026-08-28T00:00:00.000Z",
  "category": "runtime",
  "summary": "Return a child agent's findings or work to the parent.",
  "specLabel": "Common product term",
  "aliases": [
    "child result",
    "agent handoff",
    "subagent artifacts"
  ],
  "capabilityKind": "atomic",
  "parent": "subagents",
  "related": [
    "subagent-delegation",
    "artifact-export",
    "streaming-output"
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "highlight": false,
  "notes": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "text": "Evidence checked 2026-08-28: Grok Bots can hand work to one another through visible asynchronous messages and shared files. Bot-to-group handoff messages are text-only, while images can be sent directly to another Bot; the docs do not define a typed result envelope for status, citations, or errors."
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "text": "Evidence checked 2026-08-28: Claude Code subagents report a final summary to the parent conversation and can preserve file edits in the shared workspace or an isolated worktree. The docs do not define a typed result envelope for citations, status, artifacts, or errors."
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "text": "Evidence checked 2026-08-28: ChatGPT Work and Codex collect child results into the parent response and preserve inspectable child threads, but the reviewed documentation does not define a typed citation, artifact, diff, or error envelope."
    },
    {
      "id": 4,
      "text": "Evidence checked 2026-08-28: Gemini CLI subagents report findings back to the main agent after completing an isolated context loop; no typed result envelope is defined on the reviewed page."
    },
    {
      "id": 5,
      "text": "Evidence checked 2026-08-28: Cursor subagents return a final message to the parent and can leave work on shared or isolated branches; the reviewed page does not define typed result provenance."
    },
    {
      "id": 6,
      "text": "Evidence checked 2026-08-28: VS Code returns only a child's final result to the parent while retaining the prompt, full tool trace, and returned result in an inspectable read-only child chat; no typed result envelope is documented."
    }
  ],
  "issues": [],
  "resources": [
    {
      "title": "Methodology",
      "href": "/methodology",
      "kind": "note"
    },
    {
      "id": "xai-grok-bot-collaboration",
      "title": "xAI — Grok Bot messaging and collaboration",
      "href": "https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/chat-and-collaboration",
      "kind": "docs",
      "publisher": "xAI",
      "evidenceType": "documented",
      "reviewedAt": "2026-08-28",
      "locator": "Let Bots hand work off"
    },
    {
      "id": "anthropic-claude-code-subagents",
      "title": "Anthropic — Create custom subagents",
      "href": "https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents",
      "kind": "docs",
      "publisher": "Anthropic",
      "evidenceType": "documented",
      "reviewedAt": "2026-08-28",
      "locator": "How subagents work; worktree isolation"
    },
    {
      "id": "openai-subagents",
      "title": "OpenAI — Subagents in ChatGPT and Codex",
      "href": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/agent-configuration/subagents",
      "kind": "docs",
      "publisher": "OpenAI",
      "evidenceType": "documented",
      "reviewedAt": "2026-08-28"
    },
    {
      "id": "google-gemini-cli-subagents",
      "title": "Google — Gemini CLI subagents",
      "href": "https://geminicli.com/docs/core/subagents/",
      "kind": "docs",
      "publisher": "Google",
      "evidenceType": "documented",
      "reviewedAt": "2026-08-28"
    },
    {
      "id": "cursor-subagents",
      "title": "Cursor — Subagents",
      "href": "https://cursor.com/docs/subagents",
      "kind": "docs",
      "publisher": "Cursor",
      "evidenceType": "documented",
      "reviewedAt": "2026-08-28"
    },
    {
      "id": "vscode-subagents",
      "title": "Visual Studio Code — Subagents in Visual Studio Code",
      "href": "https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/agents/run/subagents",
      "kind": "docs",
      "publisher": "Microsoft",
      "evidenceType": "documented",
      "reviewedAt": "2026-08-28",
      "locator": "What you see in chat; invoke a subagent"
    }
  ],
  "support": [
    {
      "harness": "chatgpt-web",
      "versions": [
        {
          "track": "current",
          "status": "yes",
          "noteIds": [
            3
          ],
          "target": {
            "kind": "hosted-observation",
            "revision": "2026-08-28 ChatGPT Work web documentation observation",
            "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
          },
          "environmentProfile": "hosted-default",
          "qualifiers": [
            {
              "type": "runtime",
              "value": "activity, results, and child threads are inspectable and consolidated into the response, but no typed artifact, citation, diff, status, or error schema is documented"
            }
          ],
          "evidence": [
            {
              "resourceId": "openai-subagents",
              "type": "documented",
              "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "harness": "chatgpt-desktop",
      "versions": [
        {
          "track": "current",
          "status": "yes",
          "noteIds": [
            3
          ],
          "target": {
            "kind": "dated-documentation",
            "revision": "current ChatGPT desktop documentation",
            "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
          },
          "environmentProfile": "local-default",
          "qualifiers": [
            {
              "type": "runtime",
              "value": "child threads and summaries remain inspectable, but no typed artifact, citation, diff, status, or error schema is documented"
            }
          ],
          "evidence": [
            {
              "resourceId": "openai-subagents",
              "type": "documented",
              "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "harness": "codex-cli",
      "versions": [
        {
          "track": "current",
          "status": "yes",
          "noteIds": [
            3
          ],
          "target": {
            "kind": "dated-documentation",
            "revision": "current Codex CLI documentation",
            "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
          },
          "environmentProfile": "local-default",
          "qualifiers": [
            {
              "type": "runtime",
              "value": "/agent exposes child threads and the parent collects results, but no typed artifact, citation, diff, status, or error schema is documented"
            }
          ],
          "evidence": [
            {
              "resourceId": "openai-subagents",
              "type": "documented",
              "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "harness": "gemini-cli",
      "versions": [
        {
          "track": "current",
          "status": "yes",
          "noteIds": [
            4
          ],
          "target": {
            "kind": "dated-documentation",
            "revision": "current Gemini CLI documentation",
            "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
          },
          "environmentProfile": "local-default",
          "qualifiers": [
            {
              "type": "runtime",
              "value": "findings return to the parent, but no typed artifact, citation, diff, status, or error schema is documented"
            }
          ],
          "evidence": [
            {
              "resourceId": "google-gemini-cli-subagents",
              "type": "documented",
              "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "harness": "cursor",
      "versions": [
        {
          "track": "current",
          "status": "yes",
          "noteIds": [
            5
          ],
          "target": {
            "kind": "dated-documentation",
            "revision": "current Cursor subagent documentation",
            "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
          },
          "environmentProfile": "local-default",
          "qualifiers": [
            {
              "type": "runtime",
              "value": "a final message and child branch changes remain available, but no typed artifact, citation, status, or error schema is documented"
            }
          ],
          "evidence": [
            {
              "resourceId": "cursor-subagents",
              "type": "documented",
              "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "harness": "vscode-copilot",
      "versions": [
        {
          "track": "current",
          "status": "yes",
          "noteIds": [
            6
          ],
          "target": {
            "kind": "dated-documentation",
            "revision": "current VS Code subagent documentation",
            "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
          },
          "environmentProfile": "local-default",
          "qualifiers": [
            {
              "type": "runtime",
              "value": "the parent receives a final result and the operator can inspect the child trace, but no typed artifact, citation, diff, status, or error schema is documented"
            }
          ],
          "evidence": [
            {
              "resourceId": "vscode-subagents",
              "type": "documented",
              "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "harness": "claude-cli",
      "versions": [
        {
          "track": "current",
          "status": "yes",
          "noteIds": [
            2
          ],
          "target": {
            "kind": "dated-documentation",
            "revision": "current Claude Code subagent documentation",
            "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
          },
          "environmentProfile": "local-default",
          "qualifiers": [
            {
              "type": "runtime",
              "value": "the parent receives a prose summary and can observe child file changes, but no typed result schema for citations, artifact identities, status, or errors is documented"
            }
          ],
          "evidence": [
            {
              "resourceId": "anthropic-claude-code-subagents",
              "type": "documented",
              "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "harness": "grok-bot-desktop",
      "versions": [
        {
          "track": "current",
          "status": "yes",
          "noteIds": [
            1
          ],
          "target": {
            "kind": "hosted-observation",
            "revision": "2026-08-28 Grok Bot desktop documentation observation",
            "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
          },
          "environmentProfile": "hosted-default",
          "qualifiers": [
            {
              "type": "runtime",
              "value": "visible asynchronous messages and shared files preserve useful handoff context, but Bot-to-group handoff messages are text-only and no typed result schema is documented"
            },
            {
              "type": "policy",
              "value": "shared files live on one account-scoped computer and do not create an isolated provenance boundary"
            }
          ],
          "evidence": [
            {
              "resourceId": "xai-grok-bot-collaboration",
              "type": "documented",
              "observedAt": "2026-08-28"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "html": "/features/subagent-result-handoff",
  "markdown": "/features/subagent-result-handoff.md",
  "json": "/api/v1/features/subagent-result-handoff.json",
  "body": "This row asks what a child agent returns to its parent. A plain text summary counts as a result; files, patches, citations, status, tool output, and structured objects are additional result forms recorded as qualifiers.\n\nEvidence should identify documented result types, size limits, streaming versus final delivery, partial results after cancellation, error representation, and whether created files remain available outside the child's workspace. A typed result envelope is not required for support."
}