Custom agents extend base capabilities by handling specific tasks with isolated context windows, tool permissions, and system prompts. They are managed as subagents.
Create a Custom Agent
Method 1: Use create-agent (recommended)
Use the built-in create-agent skill to interactively create a custom agent:
/create-agent <your goal, for example, code review expert>The create-agent skill guides you through these steps:
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Define the agent name and description
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Select required tool permissions
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Auto-generate a system prompt template
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Save the agent file to the correct location
For your first custom agent, use /create-agent to generate a correctly formatted configuration file.
Method 2: Create manually
Alternatively, create a .md file manually in one of these locations:
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Location |
Path |
Scope |
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User-level |
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All projects |
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Project-level |
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Current project only |
Each agent file requires a frontmatter block for metadata and a system prompt:
---
name: code-review
description: A code review expert that checks code quality and security
tools: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash
---
You are a senior code reviewer. Ensure high code quality. Review checklist:
1. Code readability
2. Naming conventions
3. Error handling
4. Security checks
5. Test coverage|
Field |
Required |
Description |
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Yes |
Unique agent identifier |
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Yes |
Brief description of function and expertise. Used for automatic agent selection |
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No |
List of allowed tools, comma-separated |
Supported Tools
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Tool Name |
Description |
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Run shell commands |
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Edit files |
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Create or overwrite files |
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Find files by pattern |
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Search file contents |
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Read files |
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Fetch URL content |
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Search the web with domain filtering |
Use in Your IDE
Method 1: Automatic Trigger
Describe your task in natural language. The model matches your intent to the appropriate agent:
Review the implementation of this APIThe model detects your intent and invokes the code-review agent.
Method 2: Manual Trigger
Type /agent-name to trigger a specific agent:
/code-review