Team Composition Patterns
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Design optimal agent team compositions with sizing heuristics, preset configurations, and agent type selection. Use this skill when deciding how many agents to spawn for a task, when choosing between a review team versus a feature team versus a debug team, when selecting the correct subagent_type for each role to ensure agents have the tools they need, when configuring display modes (tmux, iTerm2, in-process) for a CI or local environment, or when building a custom team composition for a non-standard workflow such as a migration or security audit.
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Frontmatter — 3 properties
| name | team-composition-patterns |
|---|---|
| description | Design optimal agent team compositions with sizing heuristics, preset configurations, and agent type selection. Use this skill when deciding how many agents to spawn for a task, when choosing between a review team versus a feature team versus a debug team, when selecting the correct subagent_type for each role to ensure agents have the tools they need, when configuring display modes (tmux, iTerm2, in-process) for a CI or local environment, or when building a custom team composition for a non-standard workflow such as a migration or security audit. |
| version | 1.0.2 |
| 1 | --- |
| 2 | name: team-composition-patterns |
| 3 | description: Design optimal agent team compositions with sizing heuristics, preset configurations, and agent type selection. Use this skill when deciding how many agents to spawn for a task, when choosing between a review team versus a feature team versus a debug team, when selecting the correct subagent_type for each role to ensure agents have the tools they need, when configuring display modes (tmux, iTerm2, in-process) for a CI or local environment, or when building a custom team composition for a non-standard workflow such as a migration or security audit.B1 — Line is 566 characters — unreadable by eye |
| 4 | version: 1.0.2 |
| 5 | ---A5 — No allowed-tools declared — no way to tell what this skill may touch |
| 6 | |
| 7 | # Team Composition Patterns |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Best practices for composing multi-agent teams, selecting team sizes, choosing agent types, and configuring display modes for Claude Code's Agent Teams feature. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ## When to Use This Skill |
| 12 | |
| 13 | - Deciding how many teammates to spawn for a task |
| 14 | - Choosing between preset team configurations |
| 15 | - Selecting the right agent type (subagent_type) for each role |
| 16 | - Configuring teammate display modes (tmux, iTerm2, in-process) |
| 17 | - Building custom team compositions for non-standard workflows |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ## Team Sizing Heuristics |
| 20 | |
| 21 | | Complexity | Team Size | When to Use | |
| 22 | | ------------ | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | |
| 23 | | Simple | 1-2 | Single-dimension review, isolated bug, small feature | |
| 24 | | Moderate | 2-3 | Multi-file changes, 2-3 concerns, medium features | |
| 25 | | Complex | 3-4 | Cross-cutting concerns, large features, deep debugging | |
| 26 | | Very Complex | 4-5 | Full-stack features, comprehensive reviews, systemic issues | |
| 27 | |
| 28 | **Rule of thumb**: Start with the smallest team that covers all required dimensions. Adding teammates increases coordination overhead. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | ## Preset Team Compositions |
| 31 | |
| 32 | ### Review Team |
| 33 | |
| 34 | - **Size**: 3 reviewers |
| 35 | - **Agents**: 3x `team-reviewer` |
| 36 | - **Default dimensions**: security, performance, architecture |
| 37 | - **Use when**: Code changes need multi-dimensional quality assessment |
| 38 | |
| 39 | ### Debug Team |
| 40 | |
| 41 | - **Size**: 3 investigators |
| 42 | - **Agents**: 3x `team-debugger` |
| 43 | - **Default hypotheses**: 3 competing hypotheses |
| 44 | - **Use when**: Bug has multiple plausible root causes |
| 45 | |
| 46 | ### Feature Team |
| 47 | |
| 48 | - **Size**: 3 (1 lead + 2 implementers) |
| 49 | - **Agents**: 1x `team-lead` + 2x `team-implementer` |
| 50 | - **Use when**: Feature can be decomposed into parallel work streams |
| 51 | |
| 52 | ### Fullstack Team |
| 53 | |
| 54 | - **Size**: 4 (1 lead + 3 implementers) |
| 55 | - **Agents**: 1x `team-lead` + 1x frontend `team-implementer` + 1x backend `team-implementer` + 1x test `team-implementer` |
| 56 | - **Use when**: Feature spans frontend, backend, and test layers |
| 57 | |
| 58 | ### Research Team |
| 59 | |
| 60 | - **Size**: 3 researchers |
| 61 | - **Agents**: 3x `general-purpose` |
| 62 | - **Default areas**: Each assigned a different research question, module, or topic |
| 63 | - **Capabilities**: Codebase search (Grep, Glob, Read), web search (WebSearch, WebFetch)A4 — This skill pulls in web or user content but never says to treat that content as data. A signal, not proof. |
| 64 | - **Use when**: Need to understand a codebase, research libraries, compare approaches, or gather information from code and web sources in parallel |
| 65 | |
| 66 | ### Security Team |
| 67 | |
| 68 | - **Size**: 4 reviewers |
| 69 | - **Agents**: 4x `team-reviewer` |
| 70 | - **Default dimensions**: OWASP/vulnerabilities, auth/access control, dependencies/supply chain, secrets/configuration |
| 71 | - **Use when**: Comprehensive security audit covering multiple attack surfaces |
| 72 | |
| 73 | ### Migration Team |
| 74 | |
| 75 | - **Size**: 4 (1 lead + 2 implementers + 1 reviewer) |
| 76 | - **Agents**: 1x `team-lead` + 2x `team-implementer` + 1x `team-reviewer` |
| 77 | - **Use when**: Large codebase migration (framework upgrade, language port, API version bump) requiring parallel work with correctness verification |
| 78 | |
| 79 | ## Agent Type Selection |
| 80 | |
| 81 | When spawning teammates with the `Agent` tool, choose `subagent_type` based on what tools the teammate needs: |
| 82 | |
| 83 | | Agent Type | Tools Available | Use For | |
| 84 | | ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | |
| 85 | | `general-purpose` | All tools (Read, Write, Edit, Bash, etc.) | Implementation, debugging, any task requiring file changes | |
| 86 | | `Explore` | Read-only tools (Read, Grep, Glob) | Research, code exploration, analysis | |
| 87 | | `Plan` | Read-only tools | Architecture planning, task decomposition | |
| 88 | | `agent-teams:team-reviewer` | Read/search/Bash plus TaskList/TaskGet/TaskUpdate/SendMessage | Code review with structured findings | |
| 89 | | `agent-teams:team-debugger` | Read/search/Bash plus TaskList/TaskGet/TaskUpdate/SendMessage | Hypothesis-driven investigation | |
| 90 | | `agent-teams:team-implementer` | Read/Write/Edit/search/Bash plus TaskList/TaskGet/TaskUpdate/SendMessage | Building features within file ownership boundaries | |
| 91 | | `agent-teams:team-lead` | Read/search/Bash plus Agent Teams coordination tools | Team orchestration and coordination | |
| 92 | |
| 93 | **Key distinction**: Read-only agents (Explore, Plan) cannot modify files. Never assign implementation tasks to read-only agents. |
| 94 | |
| 95 | ## Display Mode Configuration |
| 96 | |
| 97 | Configure in `~/.claude/settings.json`: |
| 98 | |
| 99 | ```json |
| 100 | { |
| 101 | "teammateMode": "tmux" |
| 102 | } |
| 103 | ``` |
| 104 | |
| 105 | | Mode | Behavior | Best For | |
| 106 | | -------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- | |
| 107 | | `"tmux"` | Each teammate in a tmux pane | Development workflows, monitoring multiple agents | |
| 108 | | `"iterm2"` | Each teammate in an iTerm2 tab | macOS users who prefer iTerm2 | |
| 109 | | `"in-process"` | All teammates in same process | Simple tasks, CI/CD environments | |
| 110 | |
| 111 | ## Custom Team Guidelines |
| 112 | |
| 113 | When building custom teams: |
| 114 | |
| 115 | 1. **Every team needs a coordinator** — Either designate a `team-lead` or have the user coordinate directly |
| 116 | 2. **Match roles to agent types** — Use specialized agents (reviewer, debugger, implementer) when available |
| 117 | 3. **Avoid duplicate roles** — Two agents doing the same thing wastes resources |
| 118 | 4. **Define boundaries upfront** — Each teammate needs clear ownership of files or responsibilities |
| 119 | 5. **Keep it small** — 2-4 teammates is the sweet spot; 5+ requires significant coordination overhead |
| 120 | |
| 121 | ## Troubleshooting |
| 122 | |
| 123 | **A teammate was spawned as `Explore` but needs to write files.** |
| 124 | `Explore` and `Plan` are read-only agents. Change the `subagent_type` to `general-purpose` or an appropriate specialized agent type. Never assign implementation tasks to read-only agents. |
| 125 | |
| 126 | **The team is growing too large and coordination is slowing everything down.** |
| 127 | Each additional teammate adds communication overhead. Consolidate roles: can one agent cover two dimensions? A 4-person team doing 6 independent tasks is usually better served by 3 agents covering 2 tasks each. |
| 128 | |
| 129 | **tmux mode is not showing panes.** |
| 130 | Ensure tmux is installed and a session is already running before spawning teammates. The `in-process` mode works without tmux and is suitable for CI or scripted environments. |
| 131 | |
| 132 | **Two reviewers are flagging the same issues.** |
| 133 | The review dimensions overlap. Redefine each reviewer's focus area: one on correctness/logic, one on security, one on performance/scalability. Overlapping coverage wastes tokens and produces duplicate findings. |
| 134 | |
| 135 | **A `team-lead` is spawning teammates but they are not receiving tasks.** |
| 136 | Verify that the lead is using the `Agent` tool to spawn teammates and passing complete context in the prompt. Teammates start fresh with no prior conversation history — they need all relevant information in their initial prompt. |
| 137 | |
| 138 | ## Related Skills |
| 139 | |
| 140 | - [parallel-feature-development](../parallel-feature-development/SKILL.md) — Decompose work streams and assign file ownership once the team is composed |
| 141 | - [team-communication-protocols](../team-communication-protocols/SKILL.md) — Establish messaging norms and shutdown procedures for the assembled team |
| 142 |
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