What is a Subagent?
A subagent is a child agent spawned by a coordinator to complete a subtask. Subagents make spend compound: fan-out multiplies every cost.
How subagents work
A coordinator decomposes a task and spawns subagents in parallel.
Each subagent makes its own tool calls — and its own purchases.
Why subagents change the spend math
Cost compounds: N subagents × their retries and tool calls.
No single subagent looks expensive; the fleet does.
The control
Shared daily ceilings and velocity limits across the coordinator's agents stop fleet-wide compounding.
FAQ
How do I budget for subagent fleets?
Scope rules to the coordinator's agents so the whole fleet shares one ceiling.
What's the biggest subagent risk?
Compounding — many agents retrying the same failure in parallel.
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