# Custom agents

A custom agent is a helper with a job of its own, such as drawing diagrams, writing quiz questions or researching on the web. Anyone can call it by typing **@** in a page or choose it when starting a chat.

![Settings → Agents with workspace agents and global agents](https://thenotemaker.com/help/settings-agents.webp)

## Make an agent

Owners and admins click **New agent** and fill in:

-   **Name** and **handle**. The handle is how people call it (`@charts`). It is unique in the workspace.
-   **Instructions**: what it does and how it should answer.
-   **Colour**: it appears as a round face in that colour.
-   **Model**: optional. Without one it uses the workspace's default.
-   **Tools**: which groups it may use.
    -   **Read the workspace** to find and read pages.
    -   **Search the web**.
    -   **Edit other pages** to write beyond its own answer.
    -   **Connectors**, the tools from [🔧 Connect GitHub and MCP servers](https://docs.thenotemaker.com/workspace-settings/connect-github-and-mcp-servers).

Every member can see the list of agents. Only owners and admins change it.

## Global agents

Your instance administrator can provide agents that appear in every workspace, for example **Planner**, **Reporter** and **Reviewer**. They are marked **Global**.

-   Use the switch to turn one on or off for your workspace.
-   **Customize** makes a copy you can edit, with the same handle, so your copy replaces the global one here. Nobody in the workspace ever sees a global agent's instructions until you customize it.

## How agents behave

-   They work with the access of the **person who asked**, never more.
-   From a page (`@`), they run in the background and cannot ask for approval, so they only do what needs none. See [@ Ask an agent from a page](https://docs.thenotemaker.com/agent-mode/ask-an-agent-from-a-page).
-   In a chat, the tool groups decide what is _offered_. Writes still follow [✅ Approve what the agent does](https://docs.thenotemaker.com/agent-mode/approve-what-the-agent-does).
-   Their work counts against the workspace's Agent Mode allowance.
-   Deleting an agent turns its chats into plain ones.

## Related

-   [💬 Chat with Agent Mode](https://docs.thenotemaker.com/agent-mode/chat-with-agent-mode)
-   [📊 Usage and plan limits](https://docs.thenotemaker.com/workspace-settings/usage-and-plan-limits)