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Agents

An agent is a worker you configure once and use everywhere. Each one has its own personality, its own files, its own tools and memory, and its own settings for which AI engine powers it. You chat with agents, hand them tasks, put them on a schedule, and let them collaborate — and you decide exactly what each one can see and do.

What's in an agent​

Every agent is self-contained:

  • A persona — the instructions that shape how it works, written in plain language.
  • Knowledge — reference documents you give it, kept on hand so it can consult them whenever a job calls for them.
  • Tools — the abilities it's allowed to use (files, web, integrations, and more).
  • Memory — long-term notes it keeps across conversations.
  • Your own context — a private area where you (or the agent, on your behalf) can keep notes and documents for it; they load automatically into your conversations with the agent, separate from its shared knowledge.
  • A workspace — the files the agent works in. Depending on its mode, that's a shared team workspace, a private space for each person, or both (see Personal vs. shared below).
  • Settings — its name and description, which AI engines and models it uses (and their defaults), its visibility and workspace mode, which agents it can meet with, and which tools it can use. A monitoring view rolls up everything it's doing — scheduled tasks, run history, meetings, notifications, and triggers.

Your first agent​

A new install comes with Personal Assistant Lite — a ready-to-use general assistant, installed automatically the first time you set up. It's there so you can start chatting right away while you set up the rest.

It's the only agent that ships with the platform. You add the others yourself.

Adding more agents​

You build the team you need, two ways:

  • Install from the community catalog. Browse ready-made agents from the Agents page and install one in a click. The catalog grows over time.
  • Create your own. Start from scratch, give it a persona and knowledge, pick its tools and engine, and you have a specialist tailored to your work.

For example, a business might stand up agents for every role — a personal assistant for each person, a support agent, a content agent, a monitoring agent, coding agents for the engineering team — all on one platform.

Zero-config start

When you create or install an agent, OtoDock automatically picks an AI engine you've connected so it works immediately. You can change the engine, model, and behavior any time in the agent's settings.

Who can do what: per-agent roles​

Access is granted per agent, so a person can be a power user of one agent and a read-only observer of another. Each assignment carries one of three roles:

RoleWhat they can do
ViewerChat with the agent and work in their own personal space. Read-only on the agent's shared files.
EditorEverything a viewer can do, plus edit the agent's shared workspace files.
ManagerFull control — configure the agent's persona, tools, knowledge, and settings.

These are separate from platform roles (admin, creator, member), which govern the install as a whole. An admin runs the platform; a manager runs a specific agent. See Users & Access for the full picture.

Personal vs. shared​

Agents can work privately for one person or collaboratively for a group. You pick the mode per agent:

  • Personal + shared — each person gets their own private space and a shared workspace the whole team contributes to. The agent works in each person's private space by default, reaching for the shared one when needed. The most flexible mode, and a good default for most collaborative agents.
  • Shared + personal — the same two spaces, but the agent makes the shared workspace its home base by default, while each person still has a private space it can use.
  • Personal only — every person gets a completely private agent. Conversations, files, and memory are theirs alone and never shared. Ideal for a personal assistant.
  • Shared only — one shared space and one shared history for everyone. There's no private per-person area. This fits agents that act on behalf of the whole organization, like a support agent the whole team leans on.

Switching modes never deletes anyone's files — it only changes what's shared going forward.

Working together​

Agents don't have to work alone. Meetings bring several agents into one conversation to tackle a problem from different angles, with a facilitator keeping things on track. You choose which agents each one is allowed to meet with.

→ See Meetings and Tasks for the details.

Next steps​