Subagents

Subagents are helpers Ziva can use for a focused task, then bring their findings back into your chat.

Bundled Subagents

General handles research and multi-step work, including separate tasks Ziva can do at the same time.
Explore searches your project and explains how it works.
Full Game Playtest launches and plays your Godot game to answer a specific gameplay question. See Playtest.

The Full Game Playtest Agent is Godot-only and requires Pro. General and Explore are available on every plan.

How to use them

Give Ziva a focused request, such as “Ask Explore to find what makes my player jump and explain it in plain language.”
Optionally name General, Explore, Full Game Playtest, or one of your custom Subagents.
Review the findings Ziva brings back and continue in the main chat.

Models and privacy

Subagents normally use their configured model, or your current chat model if they have none. With a connected Claude or Codex subscription model that supports images, they use that model even if configured differently, avoiding extra Ziva usage.

Choosing a different provider may use a different account or billing source. Full Game Playtest still requires Pro regardless of the model.

Helpers receive the task brief Ziva gives them, not your full conversation. Include the details they need in your request; choosing a model does not give them the full conversation.

Optional reference: model IDs and custom helper setup

Choose the model for a task

To request another model, give Ziva its exact model ID. Otherwise, Ziva uses the usual selection described above. You can save model preferences in your project’s AGENTS.md.

If Ziva reports that a requested model is unavailable, check the ID or ask it to use the Subagent’s default model.

Create a custom Subagent

Put each definition in its own .md file:

Global: ~/.ziva/agents/ or ~/.agents/agents/
Project: <project>/.ziva/agents/ or <project>/.agents/agents/

Project definitions replace global definitions with the same name. In Settings → Agent → Resource discovery, the Custom Subagents row has Global and Project switches to turn each on or off.


---
description: Explain how the player moves without changing files
tools: [read, grep_code, glob]
model: ziva/smart
---
 
Read the player scenes and scripts. Explain how movement works in plain language without editing files.

The settings between the --- lines are called frontmatter. Ziva reads four fields: optional name (otherwise the filename), required description, optional tools as a YAML array or comma-separated list, and optional model as a hosted Ziva alias such as ziva/smart.

The text after the frontmatter is the required instruction for the helper. Omit tools to inherit the active tools and omit model to inherit the current chat model. Bundled names are reserved and cannot be replaced.