Subagents beat context-loaded skills as task horizons grow

'Subagents vs Agent Skills' compares loading skill packages as instructions into the main context versus launching them as subagents with dedicated context windows. Subagent execution wins when packages have clear I/O contracts and procedural instructions; skill-loading grows brittle as task horizon increases (context accumulation); the cost is coordination tokens.

This is direct evidence for the architecture choice every agent team faces this year (skill libraries a la Claude Skills vs subagent fleets): encapsulate reusable knowledge as subagents with I/O contracts, and expect the trade to shift further toward subagents as horizons lengthen — at the price of orchestration overhead.