---
title: "Subagent results"
canonical: "https://canmyagentuse.com/features/subagent-result-handoff"
contentKind: "feature"
locale: "en"
description: "Return a child agent's findings or work 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."
publishedAt: "2026-08-28T00:00:00.000Z"
updatedAt: "2026-08-28T00:00:00.000Z"
verifiedAt: "2026-08-28"
tags: ["runtime","subagents","handoff","provenance"]
---

# Subagent results

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.

- HTML: https://canmyagentuse.com/features/subagent-result-handoff
- JSON: https://canmyagentuse.com/api/v1/features/subagent-result-handoff.json
- Markdown: https://canmyagentuse.com/features/subagent-result-handoff.md

Terminology basis: **Common product term** — https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/chat-and-collaboration.

## Current support at a glance

Subagent results: 8 supported, 0 partial, 0 unsupported, 23 unreviewed across 31 cataloged products.

- Reviewed current products: 8 of 31
- Supported: 8
- Partial: 0
- Unsupported: 0
- Unreviewed: 23
- Not applicable: 0

Unknown or unreviewed means insufficient published evidence; it does not mean unsupported.

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.

Evidence 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.

## Catalog context

- Category: [runtime](/categories/runtime.md)
- Terminology basis: Common product term
- Aliases: child result, agent handoff, subagent artifacts
- Family: [Subagents](/features/subagents.md)
- Siblings: [Concurrent subagents](/features/subagent-concurrency.md), [Nested subagents](/features/nested-subagents.md), [Per-subagent model selection](/features/subagent-model-selection.md), [Subagent context](/features/subagent-context-isolation.md), [Subagent delegation](/features/subagent-delegation.md), [Subagent management](/features/subagent-lifecycle-controls.md), [Subagent MCP access](/features/subagent-mcp-access.md), [Subagent permissions](/features/subagent-approval-boundaries.md), [Subagent write access](/features/subagent-write-access.md)

## Compatibility assertions

Unknown means insufficient published evidence; it does not mean unsupported.

### ChatGPT (web)

- Harness: [ChatGPT](/harnesses/chatgpt-web.md)
- current: **Supported**
  - Target: hosted-observation — 2026-08-28 ChatGPT Work web documentation observation; observed 2026-08-28
  - Environment: hosted-default
  - Constraint (runtime): 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: [OpenAI — Subagents in ChatGPT and Codex](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/agent-configuration/subagents) — documented; observed 2026-08-28
  - Qualification note 3: 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.
- preview: **Unknown**

### Claude (web)

- Harness: [Claude](/harnesses/claude-web.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Gemini (web)

- Harness: [Gemini](/harnesses/gemini-web.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Copilot (web)

- Harness: [Copilot](/harnesses/copilot-web.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Grok (web)

- Harness: [Grok](/harnesses/grok-web.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Grok Bot (desktop)

- Harness: [Grok Bot](/harnesses/grok-bot-desktop.md)
- current: **Supported**
  - Target: hosted-observation — 2026-08-28 Grok Bot desktop documentation observation; observed 2026-08-28
  - Environment: hosted-default
  - Constraint (runtime): 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
  - Constraint (policy): shared files live on one account-scoped computer and do not create an isolated provenance boundary
  - Evidence: [xAI — Grok Bot messaging and collaboration](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/chat-and-collaboration) — documented; observed 2026-08-28
  - Qualification note 1: 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.

### Perplexity (web)

- Harness: [Perplexity](/harnesses/perplexity-web.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Le Chat (web)

- Harness: [Le Chat](/harnesses/le-chat.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Devin (web)

- Harness: [Devin](/harnesses/devin-web.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Replit Agent (web)

- Harness: [Replit Agent](/harnesses/replit-agent.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### ChatGPT (desktop)

- Harness: [ChatGPT](/harnesses/chatgpt-desktop.md)
- current: **Supported**
  - Target: dated-documentation — current ChatGPT desktop documentation; observed 2026-08-28
  - Environment: local-default
  - Constraint (runtime): child threads and summaries remain inspectable, but no typed artifact, citation, diff, status, or error schema is documented
  - Evidence: [OpenAI — Subagents in ChatGPT and Codex](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/agent-configuration/subagents) — documented; observed 2026-08-28
  - Qualification note 3: 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.
- preview: **Unknown**

### Claude (desktop)

- Harness: [Claude](/harnesses/claude-desktop.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Cursor (desktop)

- Harness: [Cursor](/harnesses/cursor.md)
- current: **Supported**
  - Target: dated-documentation — current Cursor subagent documentation; observed 2026-08-28
  - Environment: local-default
  - Constraint (runtime): a final message and child branch changes remain available, but no typed artifact, citation, status, or error schema is documented
  - Evidence: [Cursor — Subagents](https://cursor.com/docs/subagents) — documented; observed 2026-08-28
  - Qualification note 5: 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.
- preview: **Unknown**

### OpenWork Desktop (desktop)

- Harness: [OpenWork Desktop](/harnesses/openwork-desktop.md)
- current: **Unknown**

### Copilot Chat (desktop)

- Harness: [Copilot Chat](/harnesses/vscode-copilot.md)
- current: **Supported**
  - Target: dated-documentation — current VS Code subagent documentation; observed 2026-08-28
  - Environment: local-default
  - Constraint (runtime): 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: [Visual Studio Code — Subagents in Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/agents/run/subagents) — documented; observed 2026-08-28
  - Qualification note 6: 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.
- preview: **Unknown**

### Chrome WebMCP origin trial (desktop)

- Harness: [Chrome WebMCP origin trial](/harnesses/chrome-webmcp-preview.md)
- current: **Unknown**

### Windsurf (desktop)

- Harness: [Windsurf](/harnesses/windsurf.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Zed Agent (desktop)

- Harness: [Zed Agent](/harnesses/zed-agent.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Continue (desktop)

- Harness: [Continue](/harnesses/continue.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Cline (desktop)

- Harness: [Cline](/harnesses/cline.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### JetBrains AI (desktop)

- Harness: [JetBrains AI](/harnesses/jetbrains-ai.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Warp (desktop)

- Harness: [Warp](/harnesses/warp.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Claude CLI (cli)

- Harness: [Claude CLI](/harnesses/claude-cli.md)
- current: **Supported**
  - Target: dated-documentation — current Claude Code subagent documentation; observed 2026-08-28
  - Environment: local-default
  - Constraint (runtime): 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: [Anthropic — Create custom subagents](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents) — documented; observed 2026-08-28
  - Qualification note 2: 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.
- preview: **Unknown**

### ChatGPT CLI (cli)

- Harness: [ChatGPT CLI](/harnesses/chatgpt-cli.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Codex CLI (cli)

- Harness: [Codex CLI](/harnesses/codex-cli.md)
- current: **Supported**
  - Target: dated-documentation — current Codex CLI documentation; observed 2026-08-28
  - Environment: local-default
  - Constraint (runtime): /agent exposes child threads and the parent collects results, but no typed artifact, citation, diff, status, or error schema is documented
  - Evidence: [OpenAI — Subagents in ChatGPT and Codex](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/agent-configuration/subagents) — documented; observed 2026-08-28
  - Qualification note 3: 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.
- preview: **Unknown**

### OpenCode (cli)

- Harness: [OpenCode](/harnesses/opencode.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Gemini CLI (cli)

- Harness: [Gemini CLI](/harnesses/gemini-cli.md)
- current: **Supported**
  - Target: dated-documentation — current Gemini CLI documentation; observed 2026-08-28
  - Environment: local-default
  - Constraint (runtime): findings return to the parent, but no typed artifact, citation, diff, status, or error schema is documented
  - Evidence: [Google — Gemini CLI subagents](https://geminicli.com/docs/core/subagents/) — documented; observed 2026-08-28
  - Qualification note 4: 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.
- preview: **Unknown**

### Aider (cli)

- Harness: [Aider](/harnesses/aider.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Goose (cli)

- Harness: [Goose](/harnesses/goose.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Copilot CLI (cli)

- Harness: [Copilot CLI](/harnesses/copilot-cli.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**

### Amp (cli)

- Harness: [Amp](/harnesses/amp-cli.md)
- current: **Unknown**
- preview: **Unknown**