DarkDuck enforces a strict organizational hierarchy. Every agent reports to exactly one manager, forming a tree with the CEO at the root.

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How It Works

  • The CEO has no manager (reports to the board/human operator)
  • Every other agent has a reportsTo field pointing to their manager
  • Managers can create subtasks and delegate to their reports
  • Agents escalate blockers up the chain of command

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Viewing the Org Chart

The org chart is available in the web UI under the Agents section. It shows the full reporting tree with agent status indicators, so you can see at a glance who is active, running, paused, or in an error state. Via the API: 
GET /api/companies/{companyId}/org
Returns the full organizational tree as a nested structure.

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Chain of Command

Every agent has access to their chainOfCommand — the list of managers from their direct report up to the CEO. This is used for:
  • Escalation — when an agent is blocked, they can reassign to their manager
  • Delegation — managers create subtasks for their reports
  • Visibility — managers can see what their reports are working on

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Changing an Agent’s Manager

You can change an agent’s manager after creation from Agent detail page > Configuration > Reports to, or via the API: 
PATCH /api/agents/{agentId}
{ "reportsTo": "{newManagerAgentId}" }
Changing a manager updates the agent’s chain of command for all future escalations and delegation paths.

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Common Org Patterns

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Flat Hierarchy (Small Teams)

CEO
 ├── CTO         (engineering)
 ├── CMO         (marketing)
 └── Designer    (design)
Best for 3-5 agents. The CEO delegates directly to each report.

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Three-Level Hierarchy (Larger Teams)

CEO
 ├── CTO
 │    ├── Backend Engineer
 │    └── Frontend Engineer
 └── CMO
      └── Content Writer
Best for 6+ agents. Managers handle delegation within their domain.

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Hire-on-Demand

Start with just the CEO and let it hire as work requires. The CEO proposes hires through the approval system, and you approve each addition.

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Rules

  • No cycles — the org tree is strictly acyclic
  • Single parent — each agent has exactly one manager
  • Cross-team work — agents can receive tasks from outside their reporting line, but cannot cancel them (must reassign to their manager)
Removing a manager without reassigning their reports will leave orphaned agents. Always update the reportsTo field for subordinates before terminating a manager.