Background Agent Pings
Trust system reminders as agent progress notifications. Don't poll.
Pattern
When you launch a background agent, continue working on other tasks. The system will notify you via reminders when:
- Agent makes progress:
Agent <id> progress: X new tools used, Y new tokens - Agent writes output file (check the path you specified)
DO
1. Task(run_in_background=true, prompt="... Output to: .claude/cache/agents/<type>/output.md")
2. Continue with next task immediately
3. When system reminder shows agent activity, check if output file exists
4. Read output file only when agent signals completionDON'T
# BAD: Polling wastes tokens and time
Task(run_in_background=true)
Bash("sleep 5 && ls ...") # polling
Bash("tail /tmp/claude/.../tasks/<id>.output") # polling
TaskOutput(task_id="...") # floods contextWhy This Matters
- Polling burns tokens on repeated checks
TaskOutputfloods main context with full agent transcript- System reminders are free - they're pushed to you automatically
- Continue productive work while waiting
Source
- This session: Realized polling for agent output wasted time when system reminders already provide progress updates