dev/docs/agents.md

Agents & Subagents

Every Code can launch external CLI “agents” and orchestrate them in multi-agent “subagent” flows such as /plan, /solve, and /code.

Agent configuration ([[agents]] in config.toml)

[[agents]]
name = "code-gpt-5.3-codex"       # slug or alias shown in pickers
command = "coder"                # executable; defaults to name
args = ["--foo", "bar"]          # base argv
args_read_only = ["-s", "read-only", "-a", "never", "exec", "--skip-git-repo-check"]
args_write = ["-s", "workspace-write", "--dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox", "exec", "--skip-git-repo-check"]
env = { CODE_FOO = "1" }
read_only = false                 # force RO even if session allows writes
enabled = true                    # hide from pickers when false
description = "Frontline coding agent"
instructions = "Preamble added to this agent’s prompt"

Field recap: name (slug/alias), command (absolute paths ok), args* (RO/RW lists override base), env, read_only, enabled, optional description and instructions.

Built-in defaults

If no [[agents]] are configured, Code advertises built-ins (gated by env CODE_ENABLE_CLOUD_AGENT_MODEL for cloud variants): code-gpt-5.4, code-gpt-5.3-codex, claude-opus-4.6, gemini-3-pro, code-gpt-5.1-codex-mini, claude-sonnet-4.5, gemini-3-flash, claude-haiku-4.5, qwen-3-coder, cloud-gpt-5.1-codex-max. Built-ins strip any user --model/-m flags to avoid conflicts and inject their own.

Tip: gemini resolves to gemini-3-flash (fast/cheap). Use gemini-3-pro when you want the higher-capacity Gemini option.

Subagents ([[subagents.commands]])

[[subagents.commands]]
name = "plan"                     # slash name (/plan, /solve, /code, or custom)
read_only = true                  # default plan/solve=true, code=false
agents = ["code-gpt-5.4", "claude-opus-4.6"]  # falls back to enabled agents or built-ins
orchestrator_instructions = "Guidance for Code before spawning agents"
agent_instructions = "Preamble added to each spawned agent"

• name: slash command created/overridden.
• read_only: forces spawned agents to RO when true.
• agents: explicit list; empty → enabled [[agents]]; none configured → built-in roster.
• orchestrator_instructions: appended to the Code-side prompt before issuing agent.create.
• agent_instructions: appended to each spawned agent prompt.

The orchestrator fans out agents, waits for results, and merges reasoning according to your hide_agent_reasoning / show_raw_agent_reasoning settings.

TUI controls

• /agents opens the settings overlay to the Agents section: toggle enabled/read-only, view defaults, and open editors.
• Agent editor: create or edit a single agent (enable/disable, read-only, instructions). Args/env come from config.toml.
• Subagent editor: configure per-command agent lists, read-only flag, and instructions. Built-in /plan /solve /code can be overridden the same way.
• Model pickers are modal and return to the invoking section after selection.

Auto Drive interaction

• Auto Drive uses the agents_enabled toggle in its settings pane; when off, the coordinator skips agent batches.
• If no git repo exists, Auto Drive instructs all agents to run read-only.
• AUTO_AGENTS.md is read alongside AGENTS.md for Auto Drive–specific guidance.

AGENTS.md and project memory

• Code loads AGENTS.md files along the path (global, repo root, cwd) up to 32 KiB total; deeper files override higher-level ones.
• Contents become system/developer instructions on the first turn; direct user/developer prompts still take precedence.

Windows discovery tips

• On Windows, include extensions in command (.exe, .cmd, .bat, .com).
• NPM globals often live under C:\\Users\\<you>\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\.
• If PATH is unreliable, use absolute command paths in [[agents]].

Notifications and reasoning visibility

• hide_agent_reasoning = true removes agent reasoning streams in both the TUI and code exec.
• show_raw_agent_reasoning = true surfaces raw chains-of-thought when provided by the model.
• Notification filtering is controlled via /notifications or config.toml notify / tui.notifications.

Headless code exec

• code exec --json streams JSONL events (agent turns included).
• --output-schema <schema.json> enforces structured JSON output; combine with --output-last-message to capture only the final payload.
• code exec defaults to read-only; add --full-auto plus a writable sandbox to permit edits.

Quick examples

• Custom agent:

[[agents]]
name = "my-coder"
command = "/usr/local/bin/coder"
args_write = ["-s", "workspace-write", "--dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox", "exec", "--skip-git-repo-check"]
enabled = true

• Custom context sweep command:

[[subagents.commands]]
name = "context"
read_only = true
agents = ["code-gpt-5.4", "claude-opus-4.6"]
orchestrator_instructions = "Have each agent summarize the most relevant files and tests."
agent_instructions = "Return paths plus 1–2 sentence rationale; do not edit files."