Teams¶

Vandelay uses Agno's Team system to coordinate multiple specialist agents under a supervisor.

How Teams Work¶

User Message
    ↓
Team Supervisor (leader)
    ↓ delegates to
┌─────────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
│  Vandelay Expert│  Your Custom Specialists  │
│  (file, python, │  (any tools, any role)    │
│   shell)        │                           │
└─────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘

The supervisor receives all messages, decides which specialist should handle the task, and delegates accordingly. Each member has scoped tools: they can only use what's assigned to them.

The team leader also has direct access to all user-enabled tools (same as solo mode), so it can act without delegating when appropriate — for example, running shell commands during heartbeat checks.

Enabling Team Mode¶

Team mode is on by default in coordinate mode. You can toggle it and change the mode in the TUI Agents tab → Team section, or via the CLI:

vandelay config  # → Team → Enable/Disable

Or in config.json:

{
  "team": {
    "enabled": true,
    "members": ["vandelay-expert"]
  }
}

Team Modes¶

Mode	Behavior
`coordinate`	Supervisor coordinates members, synthesizes responses (default)
`route`	Supervisor routes to one member, that member responds directly
`broadcast`	All members process the message, supervisor synthesizes
`tasks`	Supervisor breaks work into tasks, assigns to members

The Vandelay Expert¶

Vandelay ships with one default specialist: the Vandelay Expert.

Name	Tools	Role
`vandelay-expert`	file, python, shell	Designs, creates, tests, and improves team members

The Vandelay Expert is your agent builder and platform authority. It can evolve your setup over time without you touching config files manually. It can:

Write and edit member instructions: draft prompts, refine personas, fix vague or conflicting guidance
Assign tools to members: enable tools and scope them to the right specialists
Apply starter templates: pick from 14 prebuilt personas (CTO, Researcher, DevOps, etc.) and customize them
Set up cron jobs: schedule recurring tasks with cron expressions and timezones
Configure the heartbeat: set what the agent checks and acts on autonomously while idle
Manage the team: add, remove, and reconfigure specialists as your needs change
Diagnose underperforming agents: identify prompt issues, wrong tool assignments, token overflow, and missing context
Design custom tools: scaffold new toolkits when built-in tools don't cover a use case

It ships enabled by default. To remove it, edit config.json:

{
  "team": {
    "members": []
  }
}

All other members are defined fully in config.json — no magic names.

Custom Members¶

Every other team member is defined by you. Add members in config.json with any combination of tools, role description, and instruction file:

{
  "team": {
    "members": [
      "kramer",
      {
        "name": "Kramer",
        "role": "wild brainstorming, unfiltered first drafts, and lateral thinking",
        "tools": ["wikipedia", "camoufox"],
        "instructions_file": "kramer.md"
      }
    ]
  }
}

See Agent Templates for starter templates and Your First Team for a step-by-step guide.