[BUG] Cannot continue previously spawned subagent — SendMessage referenced but unavailable

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Mar 18, 2026 by nepalez Closed Mar 22, 2026

Summary

The Agent tool description states:

To continue a previously spawned agent, use SendMessage with the agent's ID or name as the to field. The agent resumes with its full context preserved.

However, SendMessage is not available as a tool — it does not appear in the tool list, among deferred tools, or anywhere else. The Agent tool schema has no to parameter either. As a result, every Agent invocation creates a new subagent with a fresh context, making multi-turn interaction with a subagent impossible.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Configure a custom agent (e.g., git-committer) that requires user approval mid-flow
  2. Launch it via the Agent tool — it returns a result with agentId: <id> and a note: use SendMessage with to: '<id>' to continue this agent
  3. Attempt to continue the agent:
  • SendMessage — not in the tool list
  • Search deferred tools for SendMessage — not found
  • Agent tool has no to parameter in its schema (description, prompt, subagent_type, isolation, run_in_background, model only)
  1. The only option is to call Agent again, which spawns a new agent that has lost all prior context

Expected Behavior

Either:

  • SendMessage should be available as a callable tool, or
  • The Agent tool should accept a to parameter for continuing an existing subagent

Actual Behavior

Neither mechanism exists. The system prompt references a tool that is not provided. Each Agent call starts fresh, breaking workflows that require back-and-forth (approval flows, iterative refinement, etc.).

Environment

  • Claude Code CLI v2.1.79
  • Model: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context)
  • Platform: Linux (Mint aka Debian/Ubuntu)

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