Team Composition Patterns

When to use this skill

Use Team Composition Patterns when an AI agent needs a reusable SKILL.md workflow for this job: 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 subagenttype 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.

When not to use it

Skip Team Composition Patterns when the task is outside the coding category, or when a more specific skill in this directory already covers the same workflow with clearer triggers.

How to install

1. Personal install: create ~/.claude/skills/team-composition-patterns/SKILL.md (and any bundled scripts) so Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and compatible agents can load it in every project.
2. Project install: commit the same folder at .claude/skills/team-composition-patterns/ so teammates get the skill with the repo.
3. Restart the agent session after copying files so it re-scans the skills directory, then ask for the task in words that match the skill description.

Full install guide for Claude, Cursor, and Codex

What this skill does

# Team Composition Patterns

Best practices for composing multi-agent teams, selecting team sizes, choosing agent types, and configuring display modes for Claude Code's Agent Teams feature.

## When to Use This Skill

- Deciding how many teammates to spawn for a task - Choosing between preset team configurations - Selecting the right agent type (subagent_type) for each role - Configuring teammate display modes (tmux, iTerm2, in-process) - Building custom team compositions for non-standard workflows

## Team Sizing Heuristics

| Complexity | Team Size | When to Use | | ------------ | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Simple | 1-2 | Single-dimension review, isolated bug, small feature | | Moderate | 2-3 | Multi-file changes, 2-3 concerns, medium features | | Complex | 3-4 | Cross-cutting concerns, large features, deep debugging | | Very Complex | 4-5 | Full-stack features, comprehensive reviews, systemic issues |

**Rule of thumb**: Start with the smallest team that covers all required dimensions. Adding teammates increases coordination overhead.

## Preset Team Compositions

### Review Team

- **Size**: 3 reviewers - **Agents**: 3x `team-reviewer` - **Default dimensions**: security, performance, architecture - **Use when**: Code changes need multi-dimensional quality assessment

### Debug Team

- **Size**: 3 investigators - **Agents**: 3x `team-debugger` - **Default hypotheses**: 3 competing hypotheses - **Use when**: Bug has multiple plausible root causes

### Feature Team

- **Size**: 3 (1 lead + 2 implementers) - **Agents**: 1x `team-lead` + 2x `team-implementer` - **Use when**: Feature can be decomposed into parallel work streams

### Fullstack Team

- **Size**: 4 (1 lead + 3 implementers) - **Agents**: 1x `team-lead` + 1x frontend `team-implementer` + 1x backend `team-implementer` + 1x test `team-implementer` - **Use when**: Feature spans frontend, backend, and test layers

### Research Team

- **Size**: 3 researchers - **Agents**: 3x `general-purpose` - **Default areas**: Each assigned a different research question, module, or topic - **Capabilities**: Codebase search (Grep, Glob, Read), web search (WebSearch, WebFetch) - **Use when**: Need to understand a codebase, research libraries, compare approaches, or gather information from code and web sources in parallel

### Security Team

- **Size**: 4 reviewers - **Agents**: 4x `team-reviewer` - **Default dimensions**: OWASP/vulnerabilities, auth/access control, dependencies/supply chain, secrets/configuration - **Use when**: Comprehensive security audit covering multiple attack surfaces

### Migration Team

- **Size**: 4 (1 lead + 2 implementers + 1 reviewer) - **Agents**: 1x `team-lead` + 2x `team-implementer` + 1x `team-reviewer` - **Use when**: Large codebase migration (framework upgrade, language port, API version bump) requiring parallel work with correctness verification

## Agent Type Selection

When spawning teammates with the `Agent` tool, choose `subagent_type` based on what tools the teammate needs:

| Agent Type | Tools Available | Use For | | ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `general-purpose` | All tools (Read, Write, Edit, Bash, etc.) | Implementation, debugging, any task requiring file changes | | `Explore` | Read-only tools (Read, Grep, Glob) | Research, code exploration, analysis | | `Plan` | Read-only tools | Architecture planning, task decomposition | | `agent-teams:team-reviewer` | Read/search/Bash plus TaskList/TaskGet/TaskUpdate/SendMessage | Code review with structured findings | | `agent-teams:team-debugger` | Read/search/Bash plus TaskList/TaskGet/TaskUpdate/SendMessage | Hypothesis-driven investigation | | `agent-teams:team-implementer` | Read/Write/Edit/search/Bash plus TaskList/TaskGet/TaskUpdate/SendMessage | Building features within file ownership boundaries | | `agent-teams:team-lead` | Read/search/Bash plus Agent Teams coordination tools | Team orchestration and coordination |

**Key distinction**: Read-only agents (Explore, Plan) cannot modify files. Never assign implementation tasks to read-only agents.

## Display Mode Configuration

Configure in `~/.claude/settings.json`:

```json { "teammateMode": "tmux" } ```

| Mode | Behavior | Best For | | -------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- | | `"tmux"` | Each teammate in a tmux pane | Development workflows, monitoring multiple agents | | `"iterm2"` | Each teammate in an iTerm2 tab | macOS users who prefer iTerm2 | | `"in-process"` | All teammates in same process | Simple tasks, CI/CD environments |

## Custom Team Guidelines

When building custom teams:

1. **Every team needs a coordinator** — Either designate a `team-lead` or have the user coordinate directly 2. **Match roles to agent types** — Use specialized agents (reviewer, debugger, implementer) when available 3. **Avoid duplicate roles** — Two agents doing the same thing wastes resources 4. **Define boundaries upfront** — Each teammate needs clear ownership of files or responsibilities 5. **Keep it small** — 2-4 teammates is the sweet spot; 5+ requires significant coordination overhead

## Troubleshooting

**A teammate was spawned as `Explore` but needs to write files.** `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.

**The team is growing too large and coordination is slowing everything down.** 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.

**tmux mode is not showing panes.** 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.

**Two reviewers are flagging the same issues.** 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.

**A `team-lead` is spawning teammates but they are not receiving tasks.** 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.

## Related Skills

- [parallel-feature-development](../parallel-feature-development/SKILL.md) — Decompose work streams and assign file ownership once the team is composed - [team-communication-protocols](../team-communication-protocols/SKILL.md) — Establish messaging norms and shutdown procedures for the assembled team

Intended uses

• Deciding how many teammates to spawn for a task
• Choosing between preset team configurations
• Selecting the right agent type (subagenttype) for each role
• Configuring teammate display modes (tmux, iTerm2, in-process)
• Building custom team compositions for non-standard workflows