# Transfer Task Tool


_Delegate tasks to sub-agents in multi-agent setups._

## Overview

The `transfer_task` tool allows an agent to delegate tasks to specialized sub-agents and receive their results. This is the core mechanism for multi-agent orchestration.

**You don't need to add it manually** — it's automatically available when an agent has `sub_agents` configured.

## Configuration

The tool is enabled implicitly when `sub_agents` is set:

```yaml
agents:
  coordinator:
    model: openai/gpt-4o
    description: Coordinates work across specialists
    instruction: Analyze requests and delegate to the right specialist.
    sub_agents: [developer, researcher]

  developer:
    model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5
    description: Expert software developer
    instruction: Write clean, production-ready code.
    toolsets:
      - type: filesystem
      - type: shell

  researcher:
    model: openai/gpt-4o
    description: Web researcher
    instruction: Search for information online.
    toolsets:
      - type: mcp
        ref: docker:duckduckgo
```

The coordinator agent automatically gets a `transfer_task` tool that can delegate to `developer` or `researcher`.

## Tool Interface

The `transfer_task` tool takes three parameters:

| Parameter         | Type   | Required | Description                                                                                 |
| ----------------- | ------ | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `agent`           | string | ✓        | Name of the sub-agent to delegate to. Must be listed under the caller's `sub_agents`.        |
| `task`            | string | ✓        | Clear, concise description of the task the sub-agent should achieve.                        |
| `expected_output` | string | ✓        | Description of the result/format the caller expects back.                                   |

The call blocks until the sub-agent returns its result, which becomes the tool's response. For non-blocking parallel delegation, use [`background_agents`](/ai/docker-agent/background-agents/) instead.

> [!TIP]
> **See also**
>
> For parallel task delegation, see [Background Agents](/ai/docker-agent/background-agents/). For multi-agent patterns, see [Multi-Agent](/ai/concepts/multi-agent/).