Instruction Design Principles

Instruction Design Principles for sub-agents state that instructions must have:

1. A narrow scope: The task should be focused and well-defined.
2. Precise output formats: This allows for predictable aggregation of results by the orchestrator.
3. Explicit success criteria: This prevents incomplete processing and ensures the sub-agent knows when its task is truly done.

Why it matters: Well-designed instructions are crucial for reliable delegation to sub-agents.

Connections:

• subagent-definition
• well-defined-subtasks

Sources:

• certified-claude-architect-masterclass-2026-section-3-agentic-architecture-multi-agent-orchestration