Choose the right worker — assistant, catalog agent, or custom agent
Decide when to use your personal assistant, a catalog agent, or a custom agent.
Advanced · ~10 min · Prerequisites: None
What you'll do
Understand the three types of AI workers in Opisense, know the strengths and trade-offs of each, and make fast, confident decisions about which one to reach for.
Your assistant
The assistant at /assistant is your personal, general-purpose AI. It knows your workspace — your docs, your projects, your calendar — and carries memory across conversations. There's one per user; it's never shared.
Use the assistant when:
- The task is personal and doesn't need a specialist.
- You want it to read, write, or search across your own content.
- The job varies day to day and doesn't fit a fixed role.
See Assistant for the full reference.
A catalog agent
Catalog agents (Customer Support, Sales Assistant, Research Analyst, Content Creator) are ready-made specialists deployed by your org. Each one has instructions and tools tuned for its domain. They're shared across the org — every member sees them on the hub at /agentforce.
Use a catalog agent when:
- The task matches one of the four domains (support, sales, research, content).
- You want a specialist without the setup cost of a custom agent.
- The job is common enough that it made sense for Opisense to ship a default for it.
See The catalog for starter prompts and each agent's strengths.
A custom agent
Custom agents are purpose-built by your org's admins. They have their own identity, instructions, tools, and optionally their own knowledge base. There can be up to 20 of them, and they live alongside the catalog agents on the hub.
Use a custom agent when:
- No catalog agent covers the job, or the catalog agent's defaults don't fit your org.
- The role needs your org's specific voice, rules, or tools.
- Members will run the same workflow repeatedly and deserve a dedicated, tuned specialist.
See Building an agent for how to create one.
A quick decision guide
| Question | Use this |
|---|---|
| Is it personal and general? | Assistant |
| Does it match a catalog role (support / sales / research / content)? | Catalog agent |
| Does it need your org's specific instructions, voice, or tools? | Custom agent |
| Is it a one-off task that doesn't repeat? | Assistant |
| Will many people run the same workflow regularly? | Catalog or custom agent |
| Is no catalog agent close enough? | Custom agent |
When in doubt, start with the assistant or the closest catalog agent. Build a custom agent only when you've confirmed the need and have a clear scope. See Plan a custom agent for how to scope one before you build.