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How to Create and Manage Opus Agents

Learn how Admins create and manage Opus Agents, so each one handles a job your team does often.

Written by Ben Brunken
An agent's chat open beside the left navigation, with its name clicked to show Edit and Archive

🗓️ Launching November 11: Parts of this article cover features launching on November 11. Admins can opt in early.

An agent is an AI assistant with standing instructions for one job. Start from a template, or create your own agent for a job your team does often, like prepping for store openings or keeping certifications current.

As an Admin, you'll find agents in the Agents section of the left navigation. Any agent you add is shared with every other Admin in your business.

➡️ New to agents? Start with Opus Agents Overview.

Table of Contents:

Where to Find Agents

Agents are in the Agents section of the left navigation:

  • Primary Agent is always the first row.

  • Your business's agents are listed below it. Every Admin sees the same agents.

  • To add an agent, hover over the left navigation to expand it, then click + (New agent) next to Agents. The Agent gallery opens.

  • To edit or archive an agent, open its chat and click the agent's name at the top.

  • Archived agents are under Archived (N) below the list. Click it to show or hide them.

Click an agent to open its chat in a panel that slides out beside the page you're on, so you can keep working. You can resize the panel, and click Close to hide it. Going to dashboard.opus.so/agents opens Home with your first agent's chat, or Primary Agent if you have no other agents.

Agent gallery with templates and the Add button

Add an Agent from a Template

Templates are the quickest way to get started. Each one comes with instructions and suggested questions already written for a common job, so you can start chatting right away. Follow these steps:

  1. Hover over the left navigation to expand it, then click + (New agent) next to Agents. The Agent gallery opens.

  2. Browse the templates, grouped under People, Content, Operations, and Get more from Opus.

  3. Click Add on the template you want. The gallery closes, the agent is added to your Agents list, and its chat opens.

Edit the agent's instructions to fit your business at any time. Learn how in Edit or Archive an Agent. For a description of every template, see Opus Agents Overview.

New agent dialog with Name, Avatar, Instructions, Suggested questions, and Run on a schedule turned on

Create an Agent from Scratch

If no template fits the job, create your own agent. Follow these steps:

  1. Hover over the left navigation to expand it, then click + (New agent) next to Agents.

  2. In the Agent gallery, click Create from scratch. The New agent dialog opens.

  3. Enter a Name, like Compliance Auditor.

  4. Enter the agent's Instructions. These tell the agent what to focus on. See Write Good Instructions for tips.

  5. Optional: enter up to six Suggested questions, one per line. They appear as starter questions in an empty chat with the agent.

  6. Optional: turn on Run on a schedule to have the agent do a job on its own. Learn how in Run an Agent on a Schedule.

  7. Click Create. The agent is added to your Agents list, and its chat opens.

A new agent starts with a bot in a random color. To change it, use Avatar in the dialog: pick a color, click Upload image, or click Generate image, describe the picture, and click Generate.

Generating an image uses Opus AI credits.

Write Good Instructions

Write instructions in plain language, the same way you'd brief a new team member on a project. Good instructions cover three things:

  • Say what the job is: "Help Admins prepare Locations for a health inspection."

  • Say who it's for and what matters: Roles, Locations, content, or reports to focus on.

  • Say what a good answer looks like: a short list, a table by Location, or a draft for review.

An agent's instructions are added to what Ask Opus already knows. The AI Assist details on your Settings › Brand page, like your rules for AI-written content, apply to every agent, so you don't need to repeat them.

Opus checks every set of instructions before saving to keep your agents safe. If you see "These instructions look like a prompt injection," the text looks like an attempt to trick the AI. Remove any requests to ignore rules, reveal hidden instructions, or bypass safeguards.

🎯 Example: "Each week, find team members at any Location who are past due on compliance training. Group them by Location, list the training they're missing, and suggest the fastest way to close the gap."

💡 Talk it through: Click the microphone in the Instructions field to dictate your instructions, then edit the text.

➡️ Learn more:

Run an Agent on a Schedule

Have an agent do a recurring job, like a morning summary or an overdue training check, without asking it each time. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the agent's chat, click the agent's name at the top, and click Edit. For a new agent, use the New agent dialog.

  2. Turn on Run on a schedule.

  3. Choose how often: Every day, Weekdays, Weekly, or Monthly. For Weekly, pick the day of the week, and for Monthly, the Day of month.

  4. Set the Time.

  5. In What should it do each run?, describe the job, like "Check overnight compliance and summarize what is overdue."

  6. Click Save, or Create for a new agent.

An agent runs at most once a day, in your business's time zone. Each run acts as you and sends the job to your chat with that agent, where the agent answers.

Each agent has one schedule. If another Admin set it up and you change it, it runs as you from then on.

To stop the schedule, turn off Run on a schedule and click Save.

Edit or Archive an Agent

Update an agent whenever the job changes, or archive one you no longer use. Follow these steps:

  1. Click the agent in the Agents section of the left navigation to open its chat.

  2. Click the agent's name at the top of its chat.

  3. Click Edit to change its name, avatar, instructions, suggested questions, or schedule in the Edit agent dialog, then click Save. Or click Archive, then click Archive again to confirm.

Archiving removes the agent from the Agents list for every Admin. Its chat is kept, and you can bring it back at any time.

To unarchive an agent, click Archived (N) below your agents, click the agent to open its chat, and click Unarchive at the top of the chat.

FAQ

Can other Admins edit agents I create?

Yes. Agents are shared across your business, so any Admin can use, edit, or archive any agent.

Can Managers create agents?

No. Creating, editing, and archiving agents is only available to Admins. Managers get a fixed set of agents. See Opus Agents for Managers.

Can I delete an agent?

No. Archive agents you no longer need. You can unarchive them later.

Can I choose an agent's picture?

Yes. In the New agent or Edit agent dialog, use Avatar to pick a color for the agent's bot, upload an image, or generate one with Opus AI.

Can I choose which tools or data an agent uses?

No. Every agent can use the same data and tools, and only what you can access in Opus. Its instructions decide what it focuses on.

If another Admin edits an agent, does my chat change?

No. Your chat history stays the same and private, but the agent follows its updated instructions from then on.

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