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Correct answer: D. It inherits the whole conversation so far instead of starting fresh
Explanation
The principle — delegation normally means starting a worker from nothing. A fork is the one arrangement that trades that isolation away on purpose.
Why the key is correct — Anthropic defines it in one sentence: a fork is a subagent that inherits the entire conversation so far instead of starting fresh. Everything else about it is still a subagent, which is why the inheritance is the whole of the distinction.
Why the others are wrong — it is a difference in behaviour rather than in vocabulary. Ordinary subagents do not inherit the conversation; that is the rule a fork is the exception to. And the inheritance belongs to the fork itself, so asking an ordinary worker for it changes nothing.
Remember this — reach for a fork when re-explaining would cost more than the work itself.
Sources — Anthropic's Claude Code subagents documentation.
Sources
“A fork is a subagent that inherits the entire conversation so far instead of starting fresh.”
“A fork inherits everything the main session has at the moment it spawns. Any other subagent starts fresh from its definition.”
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