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Enable ambient mode

Ambient mode lets a Coworker Agent reply proactively in Slack threads where it has already been mentioned, without needing a new @-mention each time. This guide covers turning it on from the Settings tab.

Prerequisites​

Turn on ambient mode​

  1. Open the agent's detail page and go to the Settings tab.
  2. Find the Ambient card and toggle Enable ambient mode on.

The agent now watches threads it has been mentioned in. When new messages arrive in a thread, the agent evaluates whether a reply would be useful, so it doesn't respond to every message, only when it has something to contribute.

Guide the agent with AMBIENT.md​

By default the agent decides on its own when an ambient reply is worth posting. To steer that judgment, add a Markdown file named AMBIENT.md to the agent's directory (the same directory that holds its CLAUDE.md and agent.yml). Whatever you put there tells the agent when it should jump in and when it should stay quiet.

The file is optional: ambient mode works without it. Add it when the agent is replying too eagerly, missing the moments you care about, or you want it to specialize in a particular kind of follow-up.

The name and location are fixed: call the file AMBIENT.md, place it in the agent directory, and the agent picks it up automatically on its next ambient run. There is no path to configure and nothing to enable beyond the toggle above. AMBIENT.md only shapes these proactive ambient replies; direct @-mentions are always answered regardless of what it says.

Write it as plain guidance, in whatever structure reads clearly. For example:

# When to reply

Jump in when:
- Someone asks a question about deploys or rollbacks and no one has answered
  within a few minutes.
- A thread mentions a failing build and links a CI run.

Stay quiet when:
- People are chatting socially or the thread is clearly resolved.
- The question is aimed at a specific person by name.

Keep replies short and link the run or dashboard rather than pasting logs.

Edits to AMBIENT.md go through the same commit or pull-request flow as any other file in the agent directory.

agent.yml reference​

The Ambient card writes to the ambient block in agent.yml. Edit it directly if you prefer:

ambient:
  enabled: true
  modes:
    - mentioned_threads

Next steps​