Add, change, and pause agents

Your squad is one lead agent plus the specialists it creates. By default the lead is named Chief of Staff (@chief). A squad has exactly one lead. You manage agents in two ways:

In the dashboard, you open an agent’s profile, pause or resume it, nudge it, pick its model, and edit its schedules and files.
In chat, you ask your lead to add, rename, or remove agents. The dashboard has no button for these.

What you can change, and what you ask your lead for

You want to change	Where	How
Pause or resume the agent	Dashboard	Profile > More actions > Pause agent or Resume agent
Wake the agent now	Dashboard	Profile > More actions > Nudge
The agent’s model or image model	Dashboard	Profile > gear icon > Model and Image model, or AI Tokens > Model routing > AGENT OVERRIDES
The agent’s scheduled tasks and heartbeat	Dashboard	Profile > gear icon > Scheduled Tasks and Native heartbeat. See Schedule recurring work.
How the agent writes, behaves, and presents itself	Dashboard	Memory > the agent > Personality, Identity, and Notes. See Manage what your squad remembers.
Which connected apps the agent can use	Dashboard	Per-agent access on the app’s card. See Connect apps.
The agent’s email inbox	Dashboard	The agent’s email settings. See Give an agent an email inbox.
Add a new agent	Chat	Ask your lead. See Add an agent.
The agent’s name, role, emoji, or @handle	Chat	Ask the lead or the agent. See Rename an agent or change its handle.
Remove an agent	Chat	Ask your lead. See Remove an agent.

Add an agent

Open a chat with your lead

Open a chat with your lead. On Home, the composer goes to the lead by default.

Describe the job

Describe the job, the tools the agent will use, and the results you expect.

Approve the plan

Answer the lead’s questions, then approve the plan.

Ask your lead

Add a new specialist to the squad: [role, for example "a research agent for competitor tracking"].
It should own [the work it owns] and use [apps or tools].
Propose a name, a personality, and what it will work on first, and wait for my OK before you create it.

When the lead creates the agent, it does these things:

It gives the agent a personality and an identity, and registers it in your dashboard as a Specialist.
It adds the agent to the shared Squad file on the Memory screen, so the other agents know who does what.
It creates a heartbeat for the agent. A heartbeat is a scheduled task that wakes an agent to check its work. The heartbeat starts off. The agent runs on a schedule only after you turn one on. See Schedule recurring work.
It creates a first mission for the new agent.

A new agent can take about two minutes before it receives work. Until then, work that is routed to it can go to the lead instead. The lead cannot create a second lead. A squad has one lead, and Squad refuses to register another one.

Open an agent’s profile

In the sidebar, find YOUR SQUAD.
Click the agent’s name.

The profile opens with Back to Missions at the top. The sections below describe the profile from top to bottom.

The header

Item	What it shows
Emoji tile and dot	The agent’s emoji. The dot is green while the agent works. It is amber and the tile is faded while the agent is paused.
Name and status	Working, Idle, or Needs you. A paused agent shows a PAUSED tag instead. See Statuses and what they mean.
Level	Lead or Specialist.
Role	The agent’s job title.
@handle	The name you type, for example @chief, to tag the agent in mission comments and chat. Hover over it to see how to type it.
Message on Telegram	Shows on the lead’s profile only, when you connected Telegram. It opens your chat with the lead in Telegram. See Telegram.

The buttons

Button	What it does
Chat bubble (Message plus the agent’s name)	Opens a full-screen chat with the agent. It reopens the conversation you last had open with this agent.
Monitor (Watch plus the agent’s name and ’s computer)	Opens the agent’s screen on the workspace computer. See Watch or take over an agent’s computer.
Gear (Configure plus the agent’s name)	Opens Agent Configuration on this agent’s tab.
More actions menu	Contains Nudge, Pause agent or Resume agent, and Notes & personality.

In the More actions menu:

Nudge wakes the agent now so that it checks its work. The item shows Nudging…, then ✓ Nudged · will pick this up shortly. The agent reports back through its status and comments.
Pause agent and Resume agent are described in Pause an agent.
Notes & personality opens the agent’s Notes file on the Memory screen. See Manage what your squad remembers.

Banners

Banner	When it shows	What to do
Paused by you, a reason, a time, and a Resume button	You paused this agent.	Click Resume when the agent may run on its schedules again.
Needs attention and a reason	The agent reported a problem or is blocked.	Read the reason. See Fix an agent that is stuck or failing.
The number of runs, then today may need a look, then details in Health	Runs by this agent failed today.	Click it to open Health. See See what your agents did.
Routine interruptions today, resumed automatically, then details in Health	Only routine interruptions happened today.	Nothing.
Scheduled work: last ran and a time	The agent has scheduled runs. · running now means one runs now. · last run failed or · last run has not reported back tells you to check Runs.	Nothing, unless the line reports a problem.
No scheduled runs recorded yet for this agent.	No scheduled run of this agent is on record. This is normal for a new agent, because its heartbeat starts off.	Turn on a schedule if the agent must work on its own. See Schedule recurring work.

The counts

Count	What it counts
Completed	Missions assigned to the agent that are done. A number with +, for example 200+, means that more exist than the dashboard loaded.
In flight	Open missions assigned to the agent.
Escalations	Email threads in which this agent escalated a message to you and that still wait for you.
Drafts	Email threads in which this agent has a draft that waits for your review.
Success	The share of the agent’s recent finished runs that did not fail. Routine interruptions and runs that resumed automatically do not count. An agent with no runs shows 100%.

What the agent is working on

The panel under the counts shows what the agent is doing:

WORKING ON NOW and the agent’s latest status line, while it runs. Open mission → opens the mission it works on. Open the chat, Open the doc, and Open the email open what the work is about.
WAITING ON YOU and a summary, such as “1 draft”, when the agent needs you.
LAST ACTIVITY and a line such as Idle · active 2h ago when the agent is idle.

The sections below

Section	What it shows
STATUS TIMELINE	The agent’s recent status updates, newest first. Click a row to open the mission, doc, email, or chat behind it.
RECENT MISSIONS	The agent’s four latest missions, with priority and age. No recent missions. when there are none.
ATTENTION	Messages that @mention the agent and that it has not read yet, and ASSIGNED MISSIONS. All caught up means no mentions and no open work. You cannot mark these read, because they are the agent’s to-do list.
SKILLS & EXPERTISE	Tags that describe what the agent is good at. The lead sets them when it creates the agent.
ACTIVITY	The agent’s four latest actions. No recent activity. when there are none. For more, open the Live Feed.

A conversation beside the profile

When you open a chat full screen and then go to the agent’s profile, the conversation can stay open in a panel beside the profile. Drag the panel’s edge to resize it, and double-click the edge to reset its width. Use the expand icon to go back to the full-screen chat, and the x to close the panel. On a narrow screen, the profile and the conversation are two tabs: Activity and Chat. See Chat with your squad.

Pause an agent

Open the profile

Open the agent’s profile.

Open More actions

Click the More actions menu.

Select Pause agent

Click Pause agent.

Confirm

In the confirmation dialog, click Pause agent.

The profile then shows Paused by you with a Resume button, and a PAUSED tag next to the name. If the pause fails, the dashboard shows Couldn’t pause the agent. Try again. Pausing turns off every scheduled task that belongs to the agent. The agent does not start scheduled runs while it is paused. Work in progress is left as it is. Squad also does not retry a failed scheduled run of a paused agent. The agent stays paused until you resume it. The PAUSED tag stays when the agent answers a chat message or when a run that started before the pause finishes.

Pause stops scheduled runs only. A paused agent still receives chat messages, @mentions, mission assignments, and inbound email, and it can reply and work on them. The confirmation dialog says that the agent stops picking up emails and new missions, but it does not. The dashboard has no separate pause for an agent’s inbox. If the agent must not act, tell it so in chat as well.

Resume an agent

Open the agent’s profile.
Click Resume on the paused banner. You can also click More actions > Resume agent.

Resume turns on every scheduled task that belongs to the agent. This includes tasks that you turned off one by one before you paused it, and its heartbeat. After you resume, open Agent Configuration for the agent and turn off the tasks that must stay off.

Change an agent’s model

Each agent uses the workspace default model unless you pin a different model for it.

Open the profile

Open the agent’s profile.

Open Agent Configuration

Click the gear icon. Agent Configuration opens with the agent’s tab selected.

Pick a model

In Model, pick a model. Workspace default removes the pin. The option shows the current workspace default in brackets.

Pick an image model (optional)

Optional: in Image model, pick the model that reads screenshots and photos for this agent. Workspace image default removes the pin.

Save

Click Save changes in the bar at the bottom.

The bar shows ✓ Saved when the change is stored. The lists show only the models in Allowed models. A pinned model that is no longer allowed shows (not in allowed models). If the image model you pick cannot read images, the screen says so. You can also pin models in AI Tokens > Model routing > AGENT OVERRIDES. See Choose models and manage AI accounts.

Read the rest of the agent’s tab in Agent Configuration

The top of Agent Configuration has a tab for Workspace defaults and one tab for each agent. The agent’s tab has three cards. One Save changes bar saves all three.

Card	What it does
Model	The agent’s model and image model. See Change an agent’s model.
Native heartbeat	A built-in loop that wakes the agent on a fixed interval. When you turn it on, you pick Frequency, Model (Agent default or a model), and Instructions. The screen recommends a scheduled task instead, and warns you when a scheduled heartbeat task already exists, because both together can double up work.
Scheduled Tasks	The agent’s schedules, with N active · N paused. Each row shows the schedule, the model, and notifies or quiet, plus Run now, an ACTIVE or PAUSED tag, and an on/off switch. ＋ New task adds a task. Disable all turns off every active task, after you confirm Stop all N schedules?. Click a row to edit it. See Schedule recurring work.

The native heartbeat card also tells you when the agent will not run on its own: “has no heartbeat and no active scheduled tasks; it won’t run on any schedule.”

Rename an agent or change its handle

No dashboard field edits an agent’s name, role, emoji, or @handle. Ask the agent or the lead in chat.

Ask your lead

Rename [agent] to [new name] and change its @handle to [new handle].
Update its identity file and the Squad file to match.

Handle rules:

A leading @ is removed.
Each name and handle must be unique in the squad.
The handles all, everyone, and squad are reserved for messages to the whole squad.
You can change a handle, but you cannot remove it.

Editing the agent’s Identity file changes how the agent presents itself. It does not change the name in the dashboard. To change how an agent writes and behaves, edit its Personality file on the Memory screen. To change the name your agents use for you, go to Settings > General > Your name.

Remove an agent

The dashboard has no delete button. Ask your lead to remove the agent. Your lead can remove specialists, for example a duplicate or a test agent. It cannot remove the lead or your own profile. Squad refuses the request.

Removing an agent deletes its record in the dashboard and nothing else. Its missions are not given to another agent, its email inbox is not closed, and its schedules and files on the workspace computer are not removed. Before you ask, reassign its open missions, delete its inbox in the agent’s email settings, and turn off its scheduled tasks in Agent Configuration. You cannot undo a removal.

Ask your lead

Remove [agent] from the squad. First move its open missions to [other agent],
turn off its scheduled tasks, and update the Squad file. Tell me when it is done.

If an agent still exists on the workspace computer but is no longer in your squad, Agent Configuration > Workspace defaults lists it under On your computer, not in your squad. There you can click Clear pin to remove a leftover model pin. To register the agent again, ask your lead.

Check that it works

A new agent appears under YOUR SQUAD in the sidebar and has a profile.
A paused agent shows Paused by you on its profile, and its tasks show PAUSED in Agent Configuration.
A pinned model shows on the agent’s tab in Agent Configuration and under AGENT OVERRIDES in AI Tokens.

Troubleshooting

A paused agent still answers chat. Cause: pause turns off scheduled tasks only. Fix: do not send it work while it is paused, and tell it in chat what it must not do. A new agent does not pick up work. Cause: a new agent can take about two minutes to become reachable. Fix: wait a few minutes, then click Nudge on its profile. The profile says “No scheduled runs recorded yet for this agent.” Cause: the agent’s heartbeat starts off, and no other schedule has run. Fix: turn on its heartbeat or another task in Agent Configuration > Scheduled Tasks. Your lead says it cannot remove an agent. Cause: the agent is the lead or your own profile. Squad does not let an agent remove either one. Fix: none. The lead cannot be removed.

Common questions

Can I have two leads?

No. A squad has one lead. Squad refuses to register a second one.

Does a paused agent use my AI subscription?

It does not start scheduled runs. It still runs when you or another agent send it a message, an @mention, a mission, or an email.

What happens to an agent's missions when I pause it?

Nothing. Missions stay assigned to it, and work in progress is left as it is.

Can I change one agent's reasoning effort?

No. Reasoning effort applies to the whole workspace. See Choose models and manage AI accounts.

Get started

Work with your squad

Manage your squad

Connect apps and channels

Billing and account

Troubleshooting

Reference

Add, change, and pause agents

What you can change, and what you ask your lead for

Add an agent

Open an agent’s profile

The header

The buttons

Banners

The counts

What the agent is working on

The sections below

A conversation beside the profile

Pause an agent

Resume an agent

Change an agent’s model

Read the rest of the agent’s tab in Agent Configuration

Rename an agent or change its handle

Remove an agent

Check that it works

Troubleshooting

Common questions

​What you can change, and what you ask your lead for

​Add an agent

​Open an agent’s profile

​The header

​The buttons

​Banners

​The counts

​What the agent is working on

​The sections below

​A conversation beside the profile

​Pause an agent

​Resume an agent

​Change an agent’s model

​Read the rest of the agent’s tab in Agent Configuration

​Rename an agent or change its handle

​Remove an agent

​Check that it works

​Troubleshooting

​Common questions

What you can change, and what you ask your lead for

Add an agent

Open an agent’s profile

The header

The buttons

Banners

The counts

What the agent is working on

The sections below

A conversation beside the profile

Pause an agent

Resume an agent

Change an agent’s model

Read the rest of the agent’s tab in Agent Configuration

Rename an agent or change its handle

Remove an agent

Check that it works

Troubleshooting

Common questions