How to connect an agent step by step

Before you start

Check these on the computer that will run the agent:

1. The agent's program is installed and you are signed in with its maker. Each agent's panel has a section named If you don't have it yet with the install command and the sign-in command.
2. The computer will be on and online while you use the agent.
3. You can paste into the agent, or into a Terminal window.

Viewers cannot connect an agent. The panel says "Viewers can't connect an agent. Ask an owner or admin to change your role."

Connect

1. Open Settings, then AI providers.
2. Find Bring your own agent. The first agents are shown as cards, and More agents reveals the rest.
3. Open the agent's card. A panel slides in.
4. Type a name for the agent in Its name. This is the name you will see in Ask AI.
5. If the agent is not Claude Code or Codex, tick the box that says the agent runs as you on that computer and may read files and run commands there. The button stays disabled until you do.
6. Choose Connect followed by the agent's name. Omne prepares your prompt.
7. Choose Copy prompt and paste it into the agent on your computer. It downloads Omne's connector, checks for Node 18 or newer, and runs one command. It asks you only to approve that command.
8. If you would rather run it yourself, choose Use Terminal instead, then Copy command and paste the command into a Terminal window.
9. Leave the panel open. It shows Waiting for your agent to connect…, and when the link is used, it tells you the agent is connected and to choose it in Ask AI's model menu.

The one-time link

The prompt and the command contain a link that works once and ends after 30 minutes. Whoever runs it can act as this agent in your workspace, so paste it only into your own agent. If you close the panel before it finishes, Omne cancels the link. If it ends, choose to connect again to get a new one.

What the connector does

The connector is a single file with no dependencies, saved to ~/.omne/agent.mjs. On a Mac, Linux or Windows machine it installs a background service so the agent stays online without a window open. If the service cannot be installed, the connector tells you why and keeps running in the window, and the agent stays online for as long as that window runs.

Test it

After the agent appears under Connected, press Test. Omne sends one real message through your agent, asking it to say hello in five words or fewer, and shows what comes back in quotes. This tells you the whole path works: Omne, the connector, the agent program, and your sign-in with the maker.

Use it in Ask AI

1. Open Ask AI.
2. Click the model name at the bottom of the message box.
3. Under Your agents, choose your agent. A dot shows whether it is Online or Offline.
4. Send a message. The answer streams back, and any tool the agent uses through Omne shows as a line above it.

Choosing a provider model from the same menu switches you back to a provider, and Omne remembers whichever you picked last on that device.

Connect a second agent

Connect as many as you like, each with its own name. The agent card then offers Connect another instead of Connect. Each agent is yours alone, whatever the workspace.

Remove an agent

In the agent's panel, open the connected agent and choose Remove, then confirm. Omne deletes its key. You can also run node ~/.omne/agent.mjs disconnect "Name" on the computer, or disconnect --all to remove every agent from that computer. If nothing remains, the background service is removed too.

If it does not connect

See When an agent does not connect or answer.