Agent Teams vs Background Agents
These two listings overlap in this directory — they share a category or a use case, so they are candidates for the same job. Below is every field this directory checked, side by side: verification level, security scan, compatibility target and install command. Under the table: editorial notes on when to pick each side, and when neither is the right install.
Agent Teams
NanmiCoder
An AgentTeams orchestration plugin that runs several agents as a coordinated team inside DSH.
Read the listingBackground Agents
PerryLink
Durable continuable background agents started from a session, watched in an optional Web UI sidebar, messaged by tool and interrupted on request.
Read the listing| Field | Agent Teams | Background Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Verification | L3 · Install spec | L3 · Install spec |
| Security scan | Unverified | Unverified |
| Health | Active | Active |
| dshTarget | 0.1.5-rc.1 || 0.1.2-rc.1 | 0.1.5-rc.2 |
| Last checked | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Stars (context only) | 1,720 | 15 |
| Categories | Skills & Agents, Workflow & Automation | Skills & Agents, Workflow & Automation |
| Use cases | — | — |
| Install command | dsh plugin --profile web add @nanmicoder/dsh-agent-teams | dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-background-agents |
Every row is a public field of the two listings. This page does not score plugin quality.
Scenario notes
Agent Teams is captain-led orchestration: named roles, dependency-aware tasks, a durable roster, and a plan-before-run gate. Background Agents is about continuity — durable child sessions you can message, watch and interrupt, plus team rooms in later versions. Both spawn subagents; only one starts with a DAG you must accept before anything runs.
When to pick Agent Teams
Choose Agent Teams when the work needs a structured decomposition you approve up front: multi-role projects, dependency chains, and a reviewable plan artifact. It is the higher-discipline option when a wrong decomposition would be expensive.
When to pick Background Agents
Choose Background Agents when you want long-lived workers you steer from the side — message them, watch them, interrupt them — without adopting a full team protocol. Prefer it for parallel errands and durable sessions rather than a once-only plan.
When neither fits
Do not install three orchestration layers that each want to own the task graph. For a one-file edit both are ceremony. Whichever you keep, check budget, approval gate, and whether child agents survive reload — those controls matter more than the UI brand.
Which to pick
- Both are at verification L3, so the difference is not how far the install was checked.
- They declare different harness targets (0.1.5-rc.1 || 0.1.2-rc.1 vs 0.1.5-rc.2); the older target may simply not have caught up with the current preview line.
- Agent Teams has the larger community (1,720 stars), though star counts measure attention rather than safety or quality.
Questions
- Are Agent Teams and Background Agents interchangeable?
- They overlap in what they do (they share at least one category or use case), but they differ in install path and how far they were checked: Agent Teams is L3, Background Agents is L3. Confirm the install command in the table above, then try it in an isolated profile.
- Which one is more current?
- Agent Teams was checked more recently (2026-09-18 against 2026-09-18). That date is when this directory last verified the listing, not when the plugin last shipped a release.
- Can I install both?
- Sometimes — if they do not fight for the same tool name or UI slot. Agent Teams is unverified and declares 0.1.5-rc.1 || 0.1.2-rc.1; Background Agents is unverified and declares 0.1.5-rc.2. A later install that re-registers the same capability can silently override the first. Safer path: try each in an isolated profile, compare the registered tools, then combine only what does not collide.