Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Team Composition Patterns agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The Team Composition Patterns skill is a set of guidance files for an AI coding agent that is organising several helper agents to work on one task at the same time. It is written for developers who use Claude Code's Agent Teams feature. After this guide you will know how to install the skill, how to ask for it in plain language, and how the agent uses it to decide team size, preset team type, agent type and display mode.
Team Composition Patternswshobson/agents · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download and unzip. Download the skill ZIP from this page and unzip it to get the team-composition-patterns folder.
- 2Place the folder. Move the folder into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder.
- 3Or upload in the Claude apps. In the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities, then Skills, and upload the ZIP.
- 4Set display mode. Add "teammateMode" to ~/.claude/settings.json with tmux, iterm2 or in-process.
- 5Make a request. Describe your task and ask how many agents to use or which preset team fits.
- 6Check agent types. Confirm each teammate's subagent_type gives the tools it needs, and that no implementation task goes to Explore or Plan.
What the skill makes the agent do
Agent skills are folders of instructions that an AI agent loads when a request matches the skill's description. This skill covers team design for Claude Code's Agent Teams feature. Once it is active, the agent can recommend how many teammates to spawn based on task complexity, pick one of the preset teams (review, debug, feature, fullstack, research, security, migration), and choose the right subagent_type so each helper has the tools it needs.
The skill is guidance only. Its files do not include executable scripts, and it does not run code itself.
- Team sizing: a table maps simple, moderate, complex and very complex tasks to 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 and 4-5 teammates.
- Preset teams: each has a set size and agent types, for example a Review Team of 3 team-reviewer agents.
- Agent type selection: a table shows which tools each subagent_type can use, and warns never to give implementation work to read-only agents such as Explore or Plan.
- Display modes: tmux, iterm2 and in-process, set in ~/.claude/settings.json.
Install the team-composition-patterns skill
Download the skill's ZIP from this page and unzip it. Then place the resulting folder in one of two locations. For a personal install available in all your projects, use ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, put it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder.
You can also upload the skill in the Claude apps. Go to Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills, and upload the ZIP there.
- Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
- Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills
Trigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need a special command to use the skill. The agent loads it when your request matches the description, which covers deciding how many agents to spawn, choosing between review, feature and debug teams, selecting subagent_type, configuring display modes, and building custom teams for workflows such as a migration or security audit.
Be specific about the task and the outcome you want. The skill works best when the request includes what is being changed or investigated.
- "How many agents should I spawn to review this pull request that touches auth and the database?"
- "Set up a debug team to find the root cause of this intermittent test failure."
- "Which subagent_type should each teammate use if one of them has to edit files?"
- "Plan a parallel migration of this codebase to the new API version with a reviewer."
Choose a preset team
Presets give you a starting shape. The Review Team uses three team-reviewer agents covering security, performance and architecture by default. The Debug Team uses three team-debugger agents, each testing a different hypothesis. The Feature Team has one team-lead and two team-implementers, and the Fullstack Team adds a test implementer. The Migration Team adds a reviewer to verify correctness. The Security Team uses four reviewers covering vulnerabilities, auth, dependencies and secrets.
Start with the smallest team that covers the dimensions your task needs. The source notes that each extra teammate adds coordination overhead.
Set the display mode
Display mode is set in ~/.claude/settings.json with the teammateMode key. tmux places each teammate in a tmux pane and suits monitoring several agents at once. iterm2 gives each teammate a tab and suits macOS users who prefer iTerm2. in-process runs all teammates in the same process and suits simple tasks or CI/CD.
- tmux: each teammate in a tmux pane. Make sure tmux is installed and a session is running before spawning teammates.
- iterm2: each teammate in an iTerm2 tab.
- in-process: works without tmux, suited to CI or scripted environments.
{
"teammateMode": "tmux"
}Build a custom team for a non-standard workflow
For work that no preset fits, such as a security audit or a migration, the skill gives five guidelines: every team needs a coordinator (a team-lead or you), match roles to specialised agent types, avoid duplicate roles, define file or responsibility boundaries upfront, and keep the team to 2-4 teammates where possible.
Teammates start fresh with no prior conversation history, so the lead must pass complete context in each spawn prompt.
- Name a coordinator for every team.
- Give each teammate one clear dimension or set of files.
- Keep the team small; the skill calls 2-4 the sweet spot.
What people use it for
- Deciding whether a pull request review needs one, two or three reviewers, each covering a separate dimension.
- Setting up a debug team where each investigator tests a different suspected root cause.
- Planning a framework upgrade with one lead, two implementers and a reviewer checking correctness.
- Choosing a display mode so teammates appear in tmux panes during local work and run in-process in CI.
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the team-composition-patterns skill?
Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it. Place the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder. You can also upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills.
What do I need to use this skill?
The skill is written for Claude Code with the Agent Teams feature, since it refers to the Agent tool, subagent types and teammate display modes. It does not run scripts and does not use the network, according to the listing.
Is this skill free?
The skill is released under the MIT licence. The source page does not list any price, so check the repository for licence terms.
Does the skill run code for me?
No. The skill provides guidance only, and its files do not include executable scripts. The agent uses the advice to plan the team.
Why does my tmux mode not show panes?
The skill's troubleshooting says to make sure tmux is installed and a session is already running before spawning teammates. If that is not possible, in-process mode works without tmux.
What is the difference between Explore and general-purpose agents?
Explore is read-only (Read, Grep, Glob), so it can research but cannot modify files. general-purpose has all tools, including Write, Edit and Bash, so use it for implementation tasks.
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Our verdict
This skill suits developers using Claude Code's Agent Teams who want a clear rule for team size and preset roles on parallel work such as reviews, debugging and migrations. It is not useful for single-agent tasks or small edits, where a team adds overhead, and it is not for people without Agent Teams since its guidance assumes that feature's agent types and settings.
Download the skill