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description	type	category	tags
Guide for testing subagents and handling approval gates	context	openagents-repo	[testing subagents approval-gates]

Testing Subagents: Approval Gates

Context: openagents-repo/guides | Priority: HIGH | Updated: 2026-01-09

Critical Rule: Subagents Don't Need Approval Gates

IMPORTANT: When writing tests for subagents, DO NOT include expectedViolations for approval-gate.

Why?

Subagents are delegated to by parent agents (OpenAgent, OpenCoder, etc.). The parent agent already requested and received approval before delegating. Therefore:

✅ Subagents can execute tools directly without asking for approval
✅ Subagents inherit approval from their parent
❌ Subagents should NOT be tested for approval gate violations

Test Configuration for Subagents

Correct (no approval gate expectations):

category: developer
agent: ContextScout

approvalStrategy:
  type: auto-approve

behavior:
  mustUseTools:
    - read
    - glob
  forbiddenTools:
    - write
    - edit
  minToolCalls: 2
  maxToolCalls: 15

# NO expectedViolations for approval-gate!

Incorrect (don't do this):

expectedViolations:
  - rule: approval-gate        # ❌ WRONG for subagents
    shouldViolate: false
    severity: error

When to Test Approval Gates

Test approval gates for:

✅ Primary agents (OpenAgent, OpenCoder, System Builder)
✅ Category agents (frontend-specialist, data-analyst, etc.)

Don't test approval gates for:

❌ Subagents (contextscout, tester, reviewer, coder-agent, etc.)
❌ Any agent with mode: subagent in frontmatter

Approval Strategy for Subagents

Always use auto-approve for subagent tests:

approvalStrategy:
  type: auto-approve

This simulates the parent agent having already approved the delegation.

Example: ContextScout Test

id: contextscout-code-standards
name: "ContextScout: Code Standards Discovery"
description: Tests that ContextScout discovers code-related context files

category: developer
agent: ContextScout

prompts:
  - text: |
      Search for context files related to: coding standards
      
      Task type: code
      
      Return:
      - Exact file paths
      - Priority order
      - Key findings      

approvalStrategy:
  type: auto-approve

behavior:
  mustUseTools:
    - read
    - glob
  forbiddenTools:
    - write
    - edit
  minToolCalls: 2
  maxToolCalls: 15

timeout: 60000

tags:
  - contextscout
  - discovery
  - subagent

Testing subagents: .opencode/context/openagents-repo/guides/testing-subagents.md
Subagent invocation: .opencode/context/openagents-repo/guides/subagent-invocation.md
Agent concepts: .opencode/context/openagents-repo/core-concepts/agents.md

Last Updated: 2026-01-09
Version: 1.0.0

2.8 KiB Raw Blame History