Working with agents

Build a focused agent team on one Otto

Use several agents on one Otto when separate roles need separate instructions, context, app access, or approval boundaries. A team works best when every responsibility has one clear owner. It is not a reason to create an agent for every task.

Decide whether you need another agent

Keep work with the same agent when the goal, sources, actions, and approval rules are the same. Create another agent when a role genuinely needs one of these:

  • a different outcome or owner;
  • separate files or conversation context;
  • different connected apps or access levels;
  • a different cadence, such as a scheduled monitor instead of on-demand work;
  • a different boundary for actions that send, publish, purchase, or change records.

For example, a research agent can read feedback and prepare a report, while an operations agent can monitor a workflow and bring exceptions to you. Do not split them merely because the requests have different names; unnecessary agents create handoffs and duplicate context.

Before you create an agent

For each proposed role, write a short charter:

  1. Role: what does this agent own?
  2. Inputs: which instructions, files, and connected apps may it use?
  3. Outputs: what should it produce, where should it appear, and how often?
  4. Decision boundary: what may it do independently, and what must it ask you to approve?

Choose a name that describes the job, such as Customer research or Operations monitor, rather than a model name. Start with the narrowest useful set of context and access. You can expand it after you have reviewed real work.

Create and configure the next agent

  1. Open the navigation menu. On a narrow window or phone, open the menu from chat; on a wider desktop window, use the sidebar.
  2. Select New agent.
  3. In the New agent sheet, enter the required Agent name and, if useful, add its role and boundaries in Personality.
  4. Select Create agent.
  5. Open the new agent's settings and review Identity, Models, and Limits. Select Save for identity changes; use Save limit or Update limit when configuring its spending cap.
  6. Start its first conversation with the role, definition of done, sources it may use, and actions it must not take.

Creating an agent does not automatically connect apps, create automations, or grant permission to take outside actions. Otto must be online to create or edit an agent. If Create agent is unavailable or settings will not save, bring Otto online and try again after its status settles.

Give each role only what it needs

Add standing guidance in Identity → Personality and give the agent the relevant files. Connected apps belong to the Otto rather than to one agent, so every agent can use them: state in the role's instructions which apps it should use, and connect only the accounts the device needs. Read Give an agent context for how to choose between instructions, files, connected apps, and the current session.

Keep access and approvals conservative at first. A reporting agent may need read access only. An agent that drafts outreach may need permission to prepare a draft but should ask before sending it. App access does not replace an approval requirement, and a Limit controls spending rather than granting access.

Keep the team coordinated

  • Assign each recurring responsibility one primary owner.
  • Decide where each agent reports: its main session, an automation result, or a notification when action is required.
  • If agents work on the same project, agree on a shared file location and the source of truth before asking them to collaborate.
  • Review activity and approval requests while a new role settles.
  • When a role changes, edit its instructions and access rather than creating a duplicate agent. Pause or retire the old role when it no longer owns work.

A small team is usually enough

Start with the agent whose work matters most this week. Add a second agent only when you can explain what it owns that the first one does not. A single Otto can host several specialized agents; consider another device only for a real need such as capacity, physical location, or separation of data and work.

Troubleshooting

  • Create agent is unavailable: bring Otto online, wait for its status to settle, and reopen New agent.
  • The new agent cannot use an app: check the app is connected to this Otto in Settings > Integrations. A connected app is available to every agent, new ones included.
  • Two agents are doing the same work: choose one primary owner, move the responsibility and its context there, then pause or retire the duplicate.
  • An agent needs to take an external action: review the app access and approval boundary before enabling it. See Approvals and safety controls.

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