Helpers and Teams — Nebo Developer Documentation

An employee rarely works alone. It starts short-lived helpers for side tasks, sends work to named coworkers who own it, and joins teams where a lead answers for the group. This page describes where an employee's tools come from and how work moves between employees.

Where tools come from

Source	Tool names
Nebo	Built-in tools for files, the shell, the web, memory, skills, workflows and teams.
Skills	`use_skill`, `find_skills`, `read_skill_file`, `execute` and the other skill tools.
Plugins	`plugin__<slug>` for each installed plugin, plus one typed tool per interface binding.
MCP servers	`mcp__<server>__<tool>` for each tool of each connected server.
Apps	`app__<app>__<tool>` for each tool an app’s sidecar declares.

Most tools are loaded only when needed; an employee finds them with find_tools. List a tool in requires.tools to have it loaded from the employee's first turn. Loading a tool never skips an approval; see Capabilities and Approvals.

Helpers

A helper is a short-lived, unnamed worker an employee starts for a side task, such as research it can do in parallel. The helper reports back to the employee that started it.

delegate(
  description: "Compare vendor quotes",
  prompt: "Read the three quotes in the shared folder and list price, terms and delivery for each.",
  helper_type: "explore",
  background: true
)

Parameter	Default	Meaning
`description`	required	A short label for the task.
`prompt`	required	The full instructions.
`helper_type`	`general`	`general`, `explore` or `plan`.
`background`	`true`	Run without blocking the employee.
`speed`	none	Optional speed preference.

Helpers can start helpers up to three levels deep. A conversation can have at most 20 helpers running. A foreground helper moves to the background after 120 seconds, and a helper that is silent for ten minutes is stopped.

Coworkers

To hand work to an employee who owns it, send a message. The recipient does the work under its own persona, memory and accounts.

send_message(
  to: "Bookkeeper",
  message: "The March invoice from the example vendor is approved. Please record it."
)

send_message takes to, message and an optional mention. Use a helper for work that belongs to the sender; use a message for work that belongs to someone else.

Teams

A team is a group of employees with a lead. Where a message goes depends on how it is addressed.

Message	Who answers
A plain post	The lead.
`@Name`	That member.
`@everyone`, `@team` or `@all`	Every member.

Employees manage teams with create_team, update_team, list_teams, team_members, team_messages and stop_team.

Workflow tools

Employees can also manage workflows in conversation: list_workflows, create_workflow, update_workflow, delete_workflow, install_workflow, uninstall_workflow, run_workflow, workflow_status, list_workflow_runs and set_workflow_enabled. See Workflows.