Tutorial: your first agent, without writing any configuration

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# Tutorial: your first agent, without writing any configuration

By the end of this tutorial, you will have added an agent to Sidekicks with the "Add an agent" assistant, talked with it, and found it again with the command palette. You will not open the configuration file once.

## Prerequisites

- Sidekicks installed: see [How to install Sidekicks](../how-to/install-sidekicks.md).
- `mm` installed, and llmman running with the model of Alice pulled (see [Your first ACP exchange with a test agent](first-acp-exchange.md)).
- The Sidekicks repository on your computer: Alice's folder, `agents/alice`, holds her `agent.yaml`. Below, it is `~/sidekicks/agents/alice`; use your own path.

## Step 1 — Open Sidekicks

Open Sidekicks from your Applications folder (or your applications menu).

You should see the Sidekicks logo, "Welcome to Sidekicks", three numbered steps and a blue **＋ Add my first agent** button. If agents are already listed on the left, use **＋ Add an agent** under them instead: the rest is the same.

## Step 2 — Say who the agent is

Click **＋ Add my first agent**. In **Name shown**, type:

```text
Alice (assistant)
```

You should see **Name used with @** fill itself in with `alice-assistant`. Replace it with `alice`: that is the name you will use to call her.

## Step 3 — Say how to start it

Leave **On this computer** selected. Fill in:

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Program | `mm` |
| Arguments | `-acp -config agent.yaml` |
| Agent's folder | `~/sidekicks/agents/alice` (or **Choose…** and pick the folder) |

Click **Add the agent**.

You should see the assistant close, **🤖 Alice (assistant)** appear under **AGENTS** and under **DIRECT MESSAGES**, and her conversation open in the centre with "Write your first message to Alice (assistant)."

## Step 4 — Talk with Alice

Click the text box at the bottom, type the following and press Enter:

```text
Bonjour Alice, présente-toi en une phrase.
```

You should see Alice's dot turn orange while she starts and answers, then her sentence appear word by word.

## Step 5 — Find her again with the keyboard

Click **# general** on the left. Then press **⌘K** (Ctrl+K on Linux and Windows) and type `ali`.

You should see a list with **Alice (assistant)** first. Press Enter: her conversation is back in the centre.

## What now?

You have added an agent without touching any YAML, talked with it and moved around with the keyboard. To go further:

- To add an agent that runs in Docker or in an sbx sandbox → [How to add an agent](../how-to/add-an-agent.md)
- To bring several agents into one channel → [A channel with two agents](first-channel.md)
- Every shortcut → [Keyboard shortcuts](../reference/keyboard-shortcuts.md)
- What the assistant wrote → [The configuration file](../reference/configuration.md)