diff --git a/src/tools/delegate-task/tools.ts b/src/tools/delegate-task/tools.ts
index 68c7dc4af..7d9b54bc0 100644
--- a/src/tools/delegate-task/tools.ts
+++ b/src/tools/delegate-task/tools.ts
@@ -123,7 +123,11 @@ export function createDelegateTask(options: DelegateTaskToolOptions): ToolDefini
       })
 
       if (args.run_in_background === undefined) {
-        throw new Error(`Invalid arguments: 'run_in_background' parameter is REQUIRED. Use run_in_background=false for task delegation, run_in_background=true only for parallel exploration.`)
+        if (args.category || args.subagent_type || args.session_id) {
+          args.run_in_background = false
+        } else {
+          throw new Error(`Invalid arguments: 'run_in_background' parameter is REQUIRED. Use run_in_background=false for task delegation, run_in_background=true only for parallel exploration.`)
+        }
       }
       if (typeof args.load_skills === "string") {
         try {