Tutorial: a channel with two agents

By the end of this tutorial, you will have asked Alice something in a channel, had Bob answer about what Alice said, run one of Garfield's commands, and found the whole conversation again after quitting Sidekicks.

Prerequisites

The test configuration installed, as in Your first conversation with an agent: run make install-test-config again if you installed it before milestone M3, so that the channels are called general and translations.
llmman running, with the models of Alice, Bob and Garfield pulled.

Step 1 — Open #general

Type make dev at the root of the repository. In the window, click # general in the CHANNELS panel.

You should see # general at the top of the centre, followed by two members, Alice (assistant) and Bob (assistant), and the sentence "Mention an agent with @ to bring it into #general."

Step 2 — Mention Alice

Click in the text box and type @al. A list opens above the text box with Alice (assistant). Press Tab: the text box now says @alice . Complete the message so that it reads:

@alice Reply only with this code: 4217

and press Enter. You should see your message with @alice highlighted, then "Alice (assistant) is answering…" at the top, then Alice's answer: 4217.

Step 3 — Ask Bob about it

Send:

@bob What code did Alice give? Answer with the code only.

Bob starts (Bob's dot turns orange, then green) and answers 4217. Bob's session never contained Alice's answer: Sidekicks added it to Bob's prompt.

Step 4 — Run one of Garfield's commands

Click # translations. Its only member is Garfield. Type /: the list of Garfield's commands appears within a second — Sidekicks asked Garfield for them. Press Escape, clear the text box, and type:

/idioms Il pleut des cordes.

and press Enter. Next to Garfield's name, a spinner turns with "thinking…" while the model loads. You should then see a folded line "🛠 read_skill: idioms ✓ done", then a translation such as "It's raining cats and dogs."

Now type /i in the text box: a list offers /idioms with its description. Press Escape to close it, and clear the text box.

Step 5 — Quit and come back

Quit Sidekicks (⌘Q), then type make dev again. Click # general: your messages and the agents' answers are still there. Send:

@alice What code did you give?

Alice answers 4217, although the agent runs in a new process: Sidekicks added the last messages of the channel to Alice's prompt.

What now?

You have talked with two agents in one channel, run a command, and kept the conversation across a restart. To go further:

To create, rename or delete channels and choose their agents → How to manage channels
To understand who answers and what each agent reads → Channels and what each agent knows
The exact rules and events → Reference: agents, channels and events

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# Tutorial: a channel with two agents

By the end of this tutorial, you will have asked Alice something in a channel, had Bob answer about what Alice said, run one of Garfield's commands, and found the whole conversation again after quitting Sidekicks.

## Prerequisites

- The test configuration installed, as in [Your first conversation with an agent](first-conversation.md): run `make install-test-config` again if you installed it before milestone M3, so that the channels are called `general` and `translations`.
- llmman running, with the models of Alice, Bob and Garfield pulled.

## Step 1 — Open #general

Type `make dev` at the root of the repository. In the window, click **# general** in the **CHANNELS** panel.

You should see `# general` at the top of the centre, followed by two members, `Alice (assistant)` and `Bob (assistant)`, and the sentence "Mention an agent with @ to bring it into #general."

## Step 2 — Mention Alice

Click in the text box and type `@al`. A list opens above the text box with **Alice (assistant)**. Press **Tab**: the text box now says `@alice `. Complete the message so that it reads:

```text
@alice Reply only with this code: 4217
```

and press Enter. You should see your message with `@alice` highlighted, then "Alice (assistant) is answering…" at the top, then Alice's answer: `4217`.

## Step 3 — Ask Bob about it

Send:

```text
@bob What code did Alice give? Answer with the code only.
```

Bob starts (Bob's dot turns orange, then green) and answers `4217`. Bob's session never contained Alice's answer: Sidekicks added it to Bob's prompt.

## Step 4 — Run one of Garfield's commands

Click **# translations**. Its only member is Garfield. Type `/`: the list of Garfield's commands appears within a second — Sidekicks asked Garfield for them. Press **Escape**, clear the text box, and type:

```text
/idioms Il pleut des cordes.
```

and press Enter. Next to Garfield's name, a spinner turns with "thinking…" while the model loads. You should then see a folded line "🛠 read_skill: idioms ✓ done", then a translation such as "It's raining cats and dogs."

Now type `/i` in the text box: a list offers **/idioms** with its description. Press **Escape** to close it, and clear the text box.

## Step 5 — Quit and come back

Quit Sidekicks (⌘Q), then type `make dev` again. Click **# general**: your messages and the agents' answers are still there. Send:

```text
@alice What code did you give?
```

Alice answers `4217`, although the agent runs in a new process: Sidekicks added the last messages of the channel to Alice's prompt.

## What now?

You have talked with two agents in one channel, run a command, and kept the conversation across a restart. To go further:

- To create, rename or delete channels and choose their agents → [How to manage channels](../how-to/manage-channels.md)
- To understand who answers and what each agent reads → [Channels and what each agent knows](../explanation/channels-and-context.md)
- The exact rules and events → [Reference: agents, channels and events](../reference/agents-and-events.md)