/subtask<task>

Spawns a forked subagent that inherits the conversation and reports its result back here. The difference from /fork: /subtask reports back here, while /fork starts a separate session.

Best use

/subtask document these API endpoints while you keep coding.

Used in these situations

• Do several things at once or run in the background/fork → /subtask → /background → /tasks → /batch

Related commands · Parallel & background work

• /agentsPrints a reminder to ask Claude to create or manage subagents, or to edit .claude/agents/ directly.
• /backgroundDetaches the session to run as a background agent and frees the terminal.
• /batchOrchestrates large changes in parallel: researches the codebase, decomposes the work into 5–30 independent units and presents a plan; after approval, one background subagent per unit implements and tests it in its own worktree.
• /forkCopies the conversation into a new background session while you keep working here.
• /list-agentsLists subagents, teammates and other sessions Claude can message, with the name to use for each.
• /stopStops the background session you're attached to; transcript and worktree are kept.
• /tasksViews and manages background work in this session, including finished subagents.
• /workflow-authoringLoads the reference for writing dynamic workflow scripts.