Tutorials
Creating an agent
Give OOMU focused roles, instructions, and model choices for repeatable work.
An agent is a saved role. Instead of re-explaining who you want OOMU to be every time (the contract reviewer who cites clause numbers, the researcher who never asserts without a source) you define it once and assign it to a chat.
Where agents live
Open Chat and select the Agents tab across the top of the workspace. Agents are part of the chat workspace, not a separate destination in the sidebar.
You can also jump straight there with ⌘K and typing an agent's name.
Step 1: Identity
Choose New agent. The first panel is "Who this agent is."
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Name | What the agent is called. |
| Job title | The role, for example Research lead. |
| Identity | "How this agent should understand its role and perspective." |
| Avatar color | One of the colored badges on the agent grid. |
Keep the name and role concrete. Contract Reviewer beats Assistant 2.
Step 2: Instructions
Instructions is the working brief: "Describe how this agent should work, decide, and respond." This is where the real substance goes.
Review contracts clause by clause. Cite the exact clause number for every claim. Flag anything that shifts liability. Never assert a legal conclusion without quoting the text it rests on.
Step 3: Personality
Personality shapes how the agent sounds. Start from a template and adjust; the moment you change anything, the template becomes Custom.
| Template | |
|---|---|
| Everyday assistant · Researcher · Builder · Strategist · Teacher · Custom |
Then tune four things:
- Communication style: "For example: warm and conversational, or brief and direct."
- Traits: pick from Friendly, Concise, Professional, Curious, Methodical, Creative, Skeptical, and Supportive.
- Values: "What should guide this agent's choices?"
- Boundaries: "What should this agent avoid or leave for you?"
Boundaries are the underused one. An agent that knows to stop and ask rather than guess is more useful than one that is merely fast.
Step 4: Model choice
Under Model choice, pick how this agent reasons:
| Choice | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Automatic | The router decides per request, between this Mac and your default cloud model. |
| On this Mac | A specific local model. Nothing leaves your machine. |
| Cloud | A specific connected service and model. |
Mods run only on this Mac. If this agent needs Mods, choose Automatic or On this Mac. A cloud-pinned agent cannot use them, and the editor says so.
Model limits lets you cap two things per agent:
| Limit | Range |
|---|---|
| Context budget: how much conversation context the agent may use | 2,048 – 1,000,000 tokens |
| Maximum response: the upper limit for each reply | 256 – 8,192 tokens |
Leave both on Model default unless you have a reason.
Step 5: Mods
If you have installed any Mods, choose which this agent may use. All enabled Mods is the simple option: "Newly enabled Mods are available to this agent automatically." Or select specific ones.
Step 6: Test before you trust it
Save the agent, then use the Scratchpad at the bottom of the editor: "Try a real message with this agent before you leave the editor." Send it something representative and read the reply.
Testing requires a saved agent. If the button is disabled, save first.
Using an agent
From the agent card, Start chat opens a new conversation already bound to it. Inside any chat, the Agent control in the header switches the agent, or clears it back to No agent.
Star an agent to favorite it. Favorites sort to the front of the grid.
Importing an agent from Beta 1
Import reads an agent exported from OOMU Beta 1. Because Beta 2 is a different application with a narrower and more honest capability model, some older settings have nowhere to go. OOMU tells you exactly what happened rather than silently dropping it:
Imported {name}. Some settings from the older format weren't carried over. Check the agent before you start.
The report names what came across (name, role, identity, tone, instructions, values, boundaries) and what did not, which can include older response-checking instructions, saved retrieval state, older model and channel preferences, older approval preferences, older repeat-work instructions, and other Beta 1 runtime settings.
Review an imported agent before you rely on it.
Archiving and deleting
Archive takes an agent out of the active grid but keeps it: "Archived agents remain available until you remove them." Restore brings it back. Delete permanently removes it for good.
Related
- Installing a Mod: what an agent can be given access to.
- How OOMU picks a model: what Automatic is actually deciding.
- Setting up a project: project instructions apply alongside agent instructions.