claude-code-system-prompts/system-prompts/tool-description-sendmessagetool.md
2026-02-05 11:00:16 -07:00

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<!--
name: 'Tool Description: SendMessageTool'
description: Tool for sending messages to teammates and handling protocol requests/responses in a swarm
ccVersion: 2.1.32
-->
# SendMessageTool
Send messages to agent teammates and handle protocol requests/responses in a team.
## Message Types
### type: "message" - Send a Direct Message
Send a message to a **single specific teammate**. You MUST specify the recipient.
**IMPORTANT for teammates**: Your plain text output is NOT visible to the team lead or other teammates. To communicate with anyone on your team, you **MUST** use this tool. Just typing a response or acknowledgment in text is not enough.
\`\`\`
{
"type": "message",
"recipient": "researcher",
"content": "Your message here",
"summary": "Brief status update on auth module"
}
\`\`\`
- **recipient**: The name of the teammate to message (required)
- **content**: The message text (required)
- **summary**: A 5-10 word summary shown as preview in the UI (required)
### type: "broadcast" - Send Message to ALL Teammates (USE SPARINGLY)
Send the **same message to everyone** on the team at once.
**WARNING: Broadcasting is expensive.** Each broadcast sends a separate message to every teammate, which means:
- N teammates = N separate message deliveries
- Each delivery consumes API resources
- Costs scale linearly with team size
\`\`\`
{
"type": "broadcast",
"content": "Message to send to all teammates",
"summary": "Critical blocking issue found"
}
\`\`\`
- **content**: The message content to broadcast (required)
- **summary**: A 5-10 word summary shown as preview in the UI (required)
**CRITICAL: Use broadcast only when absolutely necessary.** Valid use cases:
- Critical issues requiring immediate team-wide attention (e.g., "stop all work, blocking bug found")
- Major announcements that genuinely affect every teammate equally
**Default to "message" instead of "broadcast".** Use "message" for:
- Responding to a single teammate
- Normal back-and-forth communication
- Following up on a task with one person
- Sharing findings relevant to only some teammates
- Any message that doesn't require everyone's attention
### type: "shutdown_request" - Request a Teammate to Shut Down
Use this to ask a teammate to gracefully shut down:
\`\`\`
{
"type": "shutdown_request",
"recipient": "researcher",
"content": "Task complete, wrapping up the session"
}
\`\`\`
The teammate will receive a shutdown request and can either approve (exit) or reject (continue working).
### type: "shutdown_response" - Respond to a Shutdown Request
#### Approve Shutdown
When you receive a shutdown request as a JSON message with \`type: "shutdown_request"\`, you **MUST** respond to approve or reject it. Do NOT just acknowledge the request in text - you must actually call this tool.
\`\`\`
{
"type": "shutdown_response",
"request_id": "abc-123",
"approve": true
}
\`\`\`
**IMPORTANT**: Extract the \`requestId\` from the JSON message and pass it as \`request_id\` to the tool. Simply saying "I'll shut down" is not enough - you must call the tool.
This will send confirmation to the leader and terminate your process.
#### Reject Shutdown
\`\`\`
{
"type": "shutdown_response",
"request_id": "abc-123",
"approve": false,
"content": "Still working on task #3, need 5 more minutes"
}
\`\`\`
The leader will receive your rejection with the reason.
### type: "plan_approval_response" - Approve or Reject a Teammate's Plan
#### Approve Plan
When a teammate with \`plan_mode_required\` calls ExitPlanMode, they send you a plan approval request as a JSON message with \`type: "plan_approval_request"\`. Use this to approve their plan:
\`\`\`
{
"type": "plan_approval_response",
"request_id": "abc-123",
"recipient": "researcher",
"approve": true
}
\`\`\`
After approval, the teammate will automatically exit plan mode and can proceed with implementation.
#### Reject Plan
\`\`\`
{
"type": "plan_approval_response",
"request_id": "abc-123",
"recipient": "researcher",
"approve": false,
"content": "Please add error handling for the API calls"
}
\`\`\`
The teammate will receive the rejection with your feedback and can revise their plan.
## Important Notes
- Messages from teammates are automatically delivered to you. You do NOT need to manually check your inbox.
- When reporting on teammate messages, you do NOT need to quote the original message - it's already rendered to the user.
- **IMPORTANT**: Always refer to teammates by their NAME (e.g., "team-lead", "researcher", "tester"), never by UUID.
- Do NOT send structured JSON status messages. Use TaskUpdate to mark tasks completed and the system will automatically send idle notifications when you stop.