Agents and channels
Agents
Colleagues with their own role, instructions and tools. Channels put several of them in one team.
An agent is how you give the AI a job description. Instead of explaining the same rules in every chat, you write them once into an agent, give it the tools and files it needs, and then talk to it or put it on a team.
What an agent has
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| Name and handle | The name is shown everywhere; the @handle is how you mention it. Its mark is its initial on its own colour, the same circle a person or a meeting gets. |
| Role | One line: what it does. "Looks up supplier prices and applies the price matrix." |
| Instructions | How it works, what it must check, what it must never do. |
| Model | The model it uses for its steps, or the workspace default. |
| Tools | Every tool of the workspace, or a chosen set. |
| Connections | The connected apps it may act in. Accounts are shared by the workspace. |
| Context files | Reference files it always has at hand. |
Creating an agent
Go to Agents and press New agent. Name it, write the role and instructions. Starter templates give you a beginning for common roles. Pick a model, or leave it on Default unless the agent needs more, then save.
Talking to an agent
Press Talk on an agent's row. This opens a direct channel between you and that agent, or reuses the existing one. Direct channels are listed under Direct messages in the sidebar. Everything you would do in a team channel works here: attachments, tasks, questions back to you.
Settings and history
Open an agent to see two tabs.
- Settings holds the sections Emoji (an optional mark shown next to the handle), Role, Instructions with the model picker, Tools, Connections, Context files, Reachable (two rows marked Soon) and Danger. The name and handle are edited inline in the header.
- History lists the tasks the agent has taken part in.
Archiving
Switching the Active switch off in the header, or pressing Archive agent under Danger, archives the agent: it disappears from the team and from channels, automations that hand it steps fall back to their orchestrator, and history stays. Switch it back on to restore it. Talk is unavailable while it is archived.
Agents in automations
Every step of an automation plan is carried out by an agent. The orchestrator fronts the whole automation and takes any step without an agent of its own. Assign agents on the automation's Settings tab under Team. See Building an automation.