Mission Control · Code bay · §5.6
Subagent Budgeter
Every subagent you spawn re-loads its context — system prompt, CLAUDE.md, tool catalog. For broad parallel search it's a win. For small linear work, inline is cheaper. Add your planned subagent rows and we'll show you which strategy costs less.
Commander tier required
Locked on the recon tier.
Commander+ unlocks the entire Code bay. $24/mo or $228/yr.
See tiersWhen subagents win vs lose
- Subagents win when the work is independent and the output is large (parallel scans, deep audits, multi-target lookups).
- Inline wins when the work is sequential or each subagent does < 500 tokens of unique work — the re-load tax dominates.
- Wash means cost is within ±20%. Pick on latency / determinism, not on dollars.