intern

Delegate tasks to the "intern" agent via ACP. Use when user says "use the intern", "ask the intern", "delegate to the intern", or similar. The intern can read files, write code, run commands, and complete development tasks.

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/smadgerano/Opencode-Intern-Claude-Code-Skill
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/smadgerano/Opencode-Intern-Claude-Code-Skill "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/.claude/skills/opencode-intern" ~/.claude/skills/smadgerano-opencode-intern-claude-code-skill-intern && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: .claude/skills/opencode-intern/skill.md
source content

Intern

Run the ACP client script to delegate tasks:

<skill-path>
is this skills location on disk.

Background Execution (Default)

Tasks run in background by default, returning a task ID immediately:

# Launch task (background is default)
python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py "<project_path>" "<prompt>" --json
# Returns: {"task_id": "abc123", "status": "launched"}

# Check status
python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py --status abc123 --json

# Get result when complete
python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py --result abc123 --json

# Wait for completion (blocking)
python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py --wait abc123 --json --timeout 600

# List all tasks
python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py --list-tasks --json
python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py --list-tasks --filter running --json

# Cancel a running task
python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py --cancel abc123

# Clean up old completed tasks
python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py --cleanup

Synchronous Execution

For simple tasks where you want to wait for the result:

python <skill-path>/scripts/acp_client.py "<project_path>" "<prompt>" --sync --json

Parse the JSON result directly. The project_path is usually the current working directory.

Response Format

{
  "success": true,
  "response": "Agent's response text",
  "tools": [{"name": "bash", "status": "completed"}],
  "errors": [],
  "agent_status": "end_turn"
}

Agent Status Values

StatusMeaning
end_turn
Normal successful completion
idle
Agent finished and is idle
refusal
Agent refused to complete the task
cancelled
Session was cancelled
max_tokens
Response truncated due to token limit
max_turn_requests
Hit maximum turn limit
error
Agent encountered an error
unknown
Status not determined

Task Status Values (Background Mode)

StatusMeaning
pending
Task created, not yet started
running
Task is executing
completed
Task finished successfully
failed
Task failed with errors
cancelled
Task was cancelled by user

Parameters

Execution Options

  • project_path
    (required for sync): Absolute path to project
  • prompt
    (required for sync): Task description (max 100KB)
  • --agent
    : Agent name (default: intern)
  • --timeout
    : Overall timeout in seconds (default: 300)
  • --activity-timeout
    : Max seconds without activity (default: 120)
  • --json
    : JSON output (always use this)
  • --debug
    : Enable debug logging to stderr
  • --background
    : Run task in background (default)
  • --sync
    : Run task synchronously, wait for completion

Task Management Options

  • --status TASK_ID
    : Check status of a background task
  • --list-tasks
    : List all background tasks
  • --filter STATUS
    : Filter tasks by status (pending/running/completed/failed/cancelled)
  • --result TASK_ID
    : Get the result of a completed task
  • --cancel TASK_ID
    : Cancel a running task
  • --wait TASK_ID
    : Wait for a task to complete
  • --cleanup
    : Remove old completed tasks (>24 hours)

Errors

ErrorFix
"OpenCode not found in PATH"Ensure
opencode
is installed and in PATH
"Overall timeout"Increase
--timeout
or simplify task
"Activity timeout"Agent may be hung; try simplifying task
"Agent process died"Check opencode installation and logs
"Agent error"Service issue; check opencode auth and API status
"Prompt exceeds maximum length"Prompt is >100KB; break into smaller tasks
"Agent refused to complete"Task may violate agent policies; rephrase

Features

  • Thread-safe request handling: Safe for concurrent operations
  • Background task execution: Launch tasks asynchronously, check status later
  • Activity timeout detection: Detects hung agents that stop responding
  • Process health monitoring: Detects if agent process crashes
  • Session cancellation: Properly cancels stuck sessions per ACP protocol
  • Error status detection: Detects and reports agent errors
  • Debug mode: Enable
    --debug
    for troubleshooting
  • Partial response capture: Returns partial responses even on failure
  • Windows path normalization: Automatically converts
    C:\path
    to
    C:/path
    in prompts

Best Practices

  1. Always use
    --json
    for reliable parsing of results
  2. Use background mode for tasks >2 minutes to avoid blocking
  3. Check task status periodically rather than using long timeouts
  4. Use
    --debug
    when troubleshooting
    to see protocol messages
  5. Keep prompts focused - delegate one clear task at a time
  6. Clean up old tasks periodically with
    --cleanup