team-communication-protocols

Use direct messages for point-to-point updates, reserve broadcasts for critical shared-resource changes, and route plan approvals through the team lead. Establish these norms when the team is spawned and use teammate names rather than IDs for all messaging.

Use direct messages by default for task updates, questions, and integration notifications. Reserve broadcasts for critical blockers or changes to shared resources, since each broadcast sends one message per teammate and scales poorly with team size.

Spawn the teammate with plan mode required so it explores read-only and calls ExitPlanMode, which sends a plan_approval_request to the lead. The lead replies with a plan_approval_response containing the request_id and an approve flag, optionally with feedback.

Check the teammate's task status first. If idle, it likely finished its task and awaits new work or shutdown; if active, it will process messages after its current operation completes. Idle teammates should be assigned work or shut down.

Send a shutdown_request to each teammate, wait for shutdown_response approvals, and retry after rejections once the teammate finishes its current work. After all teammates exit, call TeamDelete to remove team resources.

Deadlocks occur when two teammates each wait for the other's output before proceeding. The lead should break the cycle by sending one teammate a direct message with a stub or partial result so it can unblock and continue.