/commandcode-delegate

name: commandcode-delegate
description: >-
  Delegate a coding task to the Command Code CLI (`cmd`) as a background implementer, then review its
  diff and land it yourself. Use this whenever the user wants to hand implementation work to Command
  Code — phrasings like "have Command Code do X", "delegate this to commandcode", "run it through
  cmd", or "use Command Code to implement/fix/refactor" — or to run a queue of coding tasks through
  Command Code while staying the reviewer. DO NOT USE for tasks small enough to do inline, or when the
  user wants the code written directly without delegating.
license: MIT
compatibility: Requires the Command Code CLI (`cmd`, or `cmdc` on Windows, from commandcode.ai) installed and authenticated, Node 22+, and git. The orchestrating agent must be able to run shell commands and read files. Shell examples assume bash/zsh (macOS/Linux).
metadata:
  version: 0.5.0

Command Code Delegate

You are the **orchestrator**. This skill lets you hand a bounded coding task to a separate **implementer** — the Command Code CLI (`cmd`) — then review what it produced and land it yourself. You write the brief and own the judgment; Command Code does the typing in your working tree; you verify and commit.

Nothing here is specific to one orchestrating agent. The loop needs only the ability to run a shell command and read a file, so it works the same whether you are Claude Code, OpenCode with a selected model, or any comparable agent. (It is designed for and run on Claude Code; treat other orchestrators as designed-for, not yet proven.)

When NOT to use this

• The task is small enough to just do inline — delegation overhead is not worth it.
• The `cmd` CLI is not installed or not authenticated (run `cmd login`).
• You want to write the code yourself, or you only need a review (Command Code has its own `/review`).
• You are on native Windows and `cmdc --version` does not work. Upstream recommends WSL for stable Windows use.

Read this before the first dispatch: the autonomy model

Command Code's headless mode has **exactly two states, with nothing in between**:

• **Default (`-p` with no `--yolo`):** read, grep, and glob work. Every write, edit, and shell call is

refused by the CLI's permission layer, and headless mode has no prompt to grant them mid-run. This is the relay's `--read-only`.

• **`--yolo` (alias `--dangerously-skip-permissions`):** every tool is allowed, anywhere the process

can reach. There is no filesystem sandbox and no path restriction. This is what an implementation run needs, so the relay passes it by default.

`--permission-mode auto-accept` and `--tools-all` do **not** lift the headless write gate. Direct CLI probes refused write, edit, and shell with both. So an implementation run through Command Code is a full-trust run: scope it with a tight brief and a clean working tree, not with a sandbox. The brief is guidance, and a git worktree isolates a checkout without containing the process. If writes outside the target tree are unacceptable, use an OS-enforced sandbox such as `codex-delegate` or run this one inside a container.

Prerequisites (check once)

1. `cmd --version` succeeds and `cmd status` reports authenticated. If not, install Command Code and run `cmd login`. 2. **Confirm the CLI on PATH.** On macOS/Linux, `command -v cmd` shows the active `cmd`. On native Windows, use `cmdc --version`; `cmd` is the system shell. The relay uses `cmdc` there and launches its npm `.cmd` shim through `cmd.exe`. `COMMANDCODE_BIN` remains an absolute-path override and must never point to the system command interpreter. The relay records the version it ran in `result.json`, so a wrong binary is visible after the fact. 3. You are in (or will point `--cd` at) the target git repository, and its tree is clean before you dispatch — a full-trust run is much easier to review against a clean baseline.

The loop

Run these five steps per task. Steps 1, 4, and 5 are your judgment; 2 and 3 are mechanical.

1. Write the brief

Command Code sees **only** the text you send — no repo memory, no chat history, no shared context (beyond the repo's own `AGENTS.md`, which it reads automatically). Everything the task needs goes in the brief: the goal, the current state, what to change, what to leave untouched, the project's **actual** gate commands (discover them from the repo's AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md/Makefile — do not assume), and a report contract. Tell it that it will **not** commit (you will). Keep one task per brief. Full guidance and a template: [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md).

2. Dispatch

Send the brief to Command Code with the bundled helper. It wraps `cmd -p`, captures the run, and writes a structured `result.json` — so your only job is "run a command, read a file." (`<skill-dir>` below is this skill's installed directory — the folder containing this `SKILL.md`, i.e. the directory you loaded the skill from. Claude Code prints it as "Base directory for this skill" when the skill loads; on other orchestrators use that same directory — if unsure where it landed, run `find ~ -name relay.mjs -path '*commandcode-delegate*'` and substitute the directory above it.)

node "<skill-dir>/scripts/relay.mjs" --brief brief.txt --cd /path/to/repo
# read-only (review/diagnosis, no edits):   add --read-only
# continue the exact session:               add --session <sessionId>  (from result.json; send only the delta brief)
# fallback when no session id is available: add --continue-last
# hard time limit (watchdog):               add --timeout 2h  (default: off; implementation runs routinely need 1-2h)
# see all options:                          node .../relay.mjs --help

The helper defaults to a write-capable (`--yolo`) run, which intentionally edits the target repository. Its temp directory keeps only relay artifacts out of that repository. The relay **never commits** — see step 5. Mechanics,