Understanding Agents
Agents are specialized AI assistants you configure for specific tasks. Think of them as team members with different expertise: one for research, another for code review, another for writing documentation.
What Makes an Agent?
Each agent has:
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| System Prompt | Instructions that define its personality and expertise |
| Model | Which Claude model powers it (Sonnet, Opus, or Haiku) |
| Tools | What actions it can perform (read files, search web, run commands) |
| Permissions | Which actions need your approval before executing |
When to Use Agents vs Plain Chat
| Use Agents when... | Use Plain Chat when... |
|---|---|
| You have a recurring task type | You have a one-off question |
| You want consistent behavior | You want flexibility |
| You're building automated flows | You're exploring ideas |
| Multiple people need the same assistant | You're just you |
Creating Your First Agent
- Go to Agents in the sidebar
- Click New Agent
- Give it a name and description
- Write a system prompt explaining what it should do
- Select which tools it can use
- Save
Example prompt for a research agent:
You are a research assistant. When given a topic:
1. Search for recent papers and articles
2. Summarize the key findings
3. Note any controversies or open questions
4. Suggest further reading
Always cite your sources.Tool Permissions
Agents can use various tools, but you control which ones:
Safe to auto-approve:
Read(viewing files)Glob(finding files)Grep(searching in files)WebSearch(searching online)
Require approval:
Write(creating/modifying files)Edit(changing existing files)Bash(running shell commands)
WARNING
Be cautious with auto-approving Bash commands. An agent with unrestricted shell access can modify your system.
Community Agents
Sciorex provides access to a community marketplace with pre-configured agents you can install:
| Agent | What it does |
|---|---|
| Orchestrator | Breaks down complex tasks and coordinates work |
| Planner | Creates step-by-step implementation plans |
| Executor | Implements code changes |
| Tester | Writes and runs tests |
| Documenter | Creates documentation |
| Reviewer | Reviews code for issues |
You cannot edit community agents directly, but you can duplicate them as a starting point for your own.
Sessions and History
Every conversation with an agent creates a session. Sessions:
- Save the full conversation history
- Can be linked to tickets for tracking
- Can be branched to explore different approaches
- Are stored locally in your workspace
Next Steps
- Your First Agent - Step-by-step tutorial
- Code Review Agent - Practical example
- Full agent configuration reference
- Models comparison - Choose the right model
- Using agents in automated flows