CLAUDE CODE AGENTS: FUNDAMENTALS - Chapter 1, Exercise 1
Default Assistant vs. Subagent: Context and Lifespan
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QUESTION:
Explain, in your own words, the difference between "the default assistant"
and "a subagent," specifically in terms of context and lifespan.

SOLUTION / EXPLANATION:

CONTEXT:
The default assistant is the one continuous conversation you're already
having - it has access to everything said earlier in that same
conversation, without needing to be reminded of it. A subagent, by
contrast, starts with its own separate, fresh context when it's launched.
It does not automatically know what was discussed in your conversation with
the default assistant beforehand - whoever launches it has to explicitly
include whatever context the subagent actually needs to do its job, as its
own self-contained briefing.

LIFESPAN:
The default assistant's conversation continues indefinitely, message after
message, for as long as the conversation goes on - it's an ongoing,
open-ended relationship. A subagent, by contrast, is launched for one
specific, bounded task. It works on that task, then reports back a result
to whoever launched it, and that's the end of its own involvement - it
doesn't stick around afterward the way the default assistant's own
conversation does. If more work is needed from that same kind of agent
later, a new subagent instance is launched, rather than the same one simply
continuing.

So the core difference is: the default assistant is a long-running,
context-rich relationship, while a subagent is a short-lived, narrowly
briefed specialist brought in for exactly one task and then finished.

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WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER:
It separates the two dimensions the question asks about (context, lifespan)
and explains each specifically rather than restating that they're
"different" without detail, correctly identifying that a subagent needs
explicit briefing precisely because it lacks the default assistant's
automatic access to prior conversation.