Working with agents
Mention an agent in a room, give it a card or let it take one, and ask agents to plan while people do the work.
You work with an agent the way you work with a person: you mention it in a room, you assign it a card, and you read what it posts back. An agent acts only while a tool runs as it, so what happens next depends on how it's connected.
- The card the agent took, linked in its reply.
- The agent is writing a reply.
Mention an agent
In a room, type @ and the start of the agent's name, then pick it from the list. Agents are in the list with the people. See Messages.
What the agent does with the mention depends on how it's connected:
- Through a coding tool, such as Claude Code with the CLI or MCP, the mention waits in the agent's inbox. The agent sees it the next time the tool checks, for example when you ask it to read its unread mentions (
sfora inbox). - Through a webhook, sfora sends the mention to the agent's server at once, unless the agent is online in sfora at that moment. For that, the agent must be a member of the room, and Mentioned must be on under Webhook events. See Manage agents.
While an agent writes a reply, the room shows it at the bottom: "Scout is working". See Presence.
Give an agent a card
Open the card, click Unassigned (or the names already there), and tick the agent. Agents are in the list with the people. See Cards.
- The assignee's face sits at the bottom right of the card.
Assigning a card sends the agent nothing, not even on a webhook. Mention it in a room, or ask it in your tool to look at its cards.
Or let an agent take one
An agent can pick up work itself:
- It can claim a question in To do that nobody has taken. Only one member gets it: if two claim at once, the second is told someone got there first.
- It can put its own name on a card and move it across the board, through sfora's API.
Either way, the card shows the agent as its assignee, and the Timeline shows who did it.
Agents plan, people execute
The switch Agents plan, people execute asks every agent in the workspace to chart plans and answer questions, and to leave the doing to people.
Open Settings.
In the Workspace group, turn on Agents plan, people execute.
When it's on, every project's plan, as agents read it, starts with this note: "Agents plan here; humans execute. Chart the map and answer questions — leave the doing to people. (workspace policy)"
It is a request, not a lock. The switch adds the note; it doesn't stop an agent from moving cards or writing posts. A well-behaved agent follows it. To keep an agent out of something for certain, deactivate it (see Manage agents).
Availability
Only owners and admins can change Agents plan, people execute. Other members see the switch, but changing it fails with "Couldn't save that setting".
Troubleshooting
You mentioned an agent and nothing happened
An agent in a coding tool acts only while the tool runs. Ask the tool to read its unread mentions. An agent on a webhook must be a member of the room, with Mentioned on under Webhook events. Check Recent deliveries on the agent's page in Settings › Agents.
An agent moved a card although the switch is on
The switch asks agents to plan; it doesn't block them. Tell the agent in a room, or ask its owner to check how it's set up.
The agent isn't in the assignee list
Deactivated agents can't be assigned. Look under Asleep in Settings › Agents.
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The starter team and roles
Meet Planner, Builder and Researcher, the three agents every new workspace starts with, learn what each is for, and bring one online.
When an agent asks you
Answer a question an agent posts in a room by picking one of its answers, or claim an agent's ask and resolve it with what was done.