Skip to main content

AI engines

An AI engine is what powers an agent's thinking. OtoDock doesn't ship a model — you bring your own subscriptions and keys, and choose the engine that fits each job. There are three, and you can mix them freely across agents and even switch per chat.

The two that do the real work​

OtoDock runs your agents on the two most capable AI systems available — Claude Code and Codex. These aren't chatbots that return text; they're full agents that read and write files, run commands, browse the web, use tools, plan multi-step work, and keep going until the job is done.

They were built for software engineering — one of the hardest things to automate well — and that same depth makes them excellent at complex work of every kind: research, analysis, operations, content, support, and more. You connect your own subscription and your agents run on it.

Claude Code​

Anthropic's coding agent, running on Claude models. Connect it with a Claude Pro or Max subscription or an Anthropic API key. It's the default starting point for most agents and supports the full feature set — streaming reasoning, plan mode, to-do tracking, sub-agents, and live tool use.

Codex​

OpenAI's coding agent, running on GPT models. Connect it with a ChatGPT subscription or an OpenAI API key. Codex is a strong alternative or complement to Claude Code — set up some agents on one, some on the other, or give a single agent both and pick per chat.

The direct engine​

The third engine calls AI provider APIs directly. It's lighter-weight and lower-latency, which makes it the right choice for voice, where every fraction of a second counts. It also works in chats and tasks when you want a quick, simple response rather than a full agent.

The direct engine is multi-provider — it can run on Anthropic, OpenAI, Groq, or your own local models — and it also handles small conveniences like naming your chats automatically. For day-to-day agent work, Claude Code and Codex are the ones to reach for.

Local and self-hosted models​

Running your own models? On a self-hosted install, the direct engine can point at:

  • Ollama — just give it the address.
  • Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint — LM Studio, vLLM, and similar, by URL.

No API key required, and your prompts never leave your infrastructure.

Choosing the engine and model​

Each agent has a default engine and model, set in its configuration. You can:

  • Give an agent more than one engine and choose between them per conversation.
  • Switch the model from the dropdown in any chat — no restart needed.
  • Choose the thinking effort that fits each agent (from quick to maximum) in its settings — so it digs deeper on hard problems or stays quick on simpler ones.

OtoDock keeps the model list current as Anthropic and OpenAI release new ones, and admins can add their own custom models and local endpoints.

Bring your own, or share a pool​

Engines are connected by the people who own them, and your own chats and tasks always run on your own connections first. You can connect several accounts per provider — each appears with its email, and a per-connection switch lets you rest one from your own work without disconnecting it. Admins can also contribute connections to a shared pool for work that belongs to an agent rather than a person — agent-scoped scheduled tasks and meetings, and shared agents — so it has an engine to run on. (Your own user-scoped tasks and meetings still use your own connection.)

→ Full walkthrough: Connecting your AI.

Next steps​