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feat(experimental): add DCP support for sub-agents #298

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84 changes: 83 additions & 1 deletion README.md
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Expand Up @@ -157,7 +157,89 @@ Restart OpenCode after making config changes.

## Limitations

**Subagents** — DCP is disabled for subagents. Subagents are not designed to be token efficient; what matters is that the final message returned to the main agent is a concise summary of findings. DCP's pruning could interfere with this summarization behavior.
**Subagents** — By default, DCP is disabled for subagents. Subagents are not designed to be token efficient; what matters is that the final message returned to the main agent is a concise summary of findings. DCP's pruning could interfere with this summarization behavior.

However, you can enable DCP for specific sub-agents using the experimental configuration (see below).

## Experimental Features

### Sub-Agent DCP Support

> **Warning:** This feature is experimental and may change or be removed in future versions.

You can enable DCP for specific sub-agents by configuring pattern matching on their system prompts. This is useful for long-running sub-agents that would benefit from context pruning.

```jsonc
{
"experimental": {
"subAgents": {
// Enable DCP for sub-agents matching the configured patterns
"enabled": true,
"agents": [
{
// Unique identifier for this configuration
"name": "explorer",
// Patterns to match in the sub-agent's system prompt (substring matching)
"systemPromptPatterns": [
"You are an exploration agent",
"explore the codebase"
],
"config": {
// Tools that can be pruned for this sub-agent
"prunableTools": ["Read", "Glob", "Grep"],
// Optional: Override strategies for this sub-agent
"strategies": {
"deduplication": { "enabled": true },
"supersedeWrites": { "enabled": false },
"purgeErrors": { "enabled": true, "turns": 2 }
},
// Optional: Override tool settings for this sub-agent
"tools": {
"discard": { "enabled": true },
"extract": { "enabled": false }
}
}
},
{
"name": "researcher",
"systemPromptPatterns": ["research agent", "web search"],
"config": {
"prunableTools": ["WebFetch", "WebSearch", "Read"],
"tools": {
"discard": { "enabled": true },
"extract": { "enabled": true }
}
}
}
]
}
}
}
```

#### How It Works

1. When a sub-agent session is detected, DCP extracts the system prompt
2. The system prompt is matched against the configured `systemPromptPatterns`
3. If a match is found, DCP is enabled for that sub-agent with the specified configuration
4. Only the tools listed in `prunableTools` can be pruned; all other tools are protected

#### Configuration Options

| Option | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `name` | Unique identifier for this sub-agent configuration |
| `systemPromptPatterns` | Array of strings to match in the system prompt (substring matching) |
| `config.prunableTools` | Tools that can be pruned for this sub-agent type |
| `config.strategies` | Optional strategy overrides (deduplication, supersedeWrites, purgeErrors) |
| `config.tools` | Optional tool overrides (discard, extract) |

#### Best Practices

- Only enable DCP for sub-agents that have long-running sessions with many tool calls
- Keep the `prunableTools` list minimal—only include tools whose outputs become stale
- Test thoroughly, as sub-agent behavior may change with pruning enabled
- Consider disabling the `extract` tool for sub-agents to keep things simple

## License

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123 changes: 123 additions & 0 deletions dcp.schema.json
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Expand Up @@ -207,6 +207,129 @@
}
}
}
},
"experimental": {
"type": "object",
"description": "Experimental features (may change or be removed in future versions)",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"subAgents": {
"type": "object",
"description": "Enable DCP for specific sub-agents (experimental)",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"enabled": {
"type": "boolean",
"default": false,
"description": "Enable DCP for sub-agents matching the configured patterns"
},
"agents": {
"type": "array",
"description": "List of sub-agent configurations",
"items": {
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": false,
"required": ["name", "systemPromptPatterns", "config"],
"properties": {
"name": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Unique identifier for this sub-agent configuration"
},
"systemPromptPatterns": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Patterns to match in the system prompt to identify this sub-agent type (substring matching)"
},
"config": {
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": false,
"required": ["prunableTools"],
"properties": {
"prunableTools": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Tools that can be pruned for this sub-agent type"
},
"strategies": {
"type": "object",
"description": "Override strategies for this sub-agent",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"deduplication": {
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"enabled": {
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Enable deduplication for this sub-agent"
}
}
},
"supersedeWrites": {
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"enabled": {
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Enable supersede writes for this sub-agent"
}
}
},
"purgeErrors": {
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"enabled": {
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Enable purge errors for this sub-agent"
},
"turns": {
"type": "number",
"description": "Number of turns before errors are purged"
}
}
}
}
},
"tools": {
"type": "object",
"description": "Override tool settings for this sub-agent",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"discard": {
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"enabled": {
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Enable discard tool for this sub-agent"
}
}
},
"extract": {
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": false,
"properties": {
"enabled": {
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Enable extract tool for this sub-agent"
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
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