Create a custom preset

A preset decides how Oda runs a chat: which capabilities and skills it may use, the instructions it follows and its default model. To make your own, duplicate a preset in Settings > Agent presets and edit the copy. Presets covers choosing one for a chat.

Duplicate a preset and edit the copy

1. Open Settings > Agent presets.
2. Find the preset you want to start from and click Duplicate on its card. To begin from your default preset instead, click New preset and choose another one under Start from in the editor.
3. The editor opens with the source preset's instructions, capabilities and model copied in. A duplicate also pre-fills the Name with the original's name plus copy (for example, Standard mode copy), and copies the description.
4. Set the fields you want and click Save. Your preset appears under Custom with its own Edit and Delete buttons.

Fill in the editor

• Name (up to 64 characters) and Description (up to 500). The description shows under the preset's name in the list, so say what the preset is for.
• Model: keep Use the default model, or choose one of the models your company offers. If you choose one, chats on this preset start on it unless a different model is chosen for the chat.
• Instructions: your own guidance for chats on this preset; the section below covers them.
• Capabilities: switch off whatever the agent should not use, such as Read and edit files or Web search and pages. Only the switches the preset offers appear.
• Skills: which skills this preset can use; the section after that covers them.

Write the instructions

Instructions add to Oda's own guidance; they never replace it. Say how a report should be written, what to check first, or what to avoid.

• You can insert {{model}}, {{cwd}} (the folder the chat works in) or {{provider}}; Oda fills them in for each chat.
• Anything else in double braces is refused when you save: Double braces can only insert {{model}}, {{cwd}} or {{provider}}.

Choose the skills

Skills sets which skills Oda can use under this preset, including the ones you run yourself with /.

• All skills: every skill is available, and new skills appear automatically.
• Only selected: the skills you tick are available; a skill you add later stays out.
• All except selected: the skills you tick are hidden; everything else stays available.

If the preset starts with no skills, turn on Use skills first. Leave this section alone and your copy keeps the original preset's choice.

Save, edit and delete

• Clicking Save applies the change at once: New tasks use the saved version; tasks already running keep the version they started with. Any chat a running chat starts uses the same version.
• To change your preset later, open Settings > Agent presets and click Edit on it; any field can change, including the Name.
• To remove it, click Delete, then Delete preset in the confirmation. The confirmation reads: New tasks can no longer use this preset, and tasks that use it cannot be resumed after they close. If the preset was set as your default for new tasks, that setting is cleared.

Read next: choosing a preset for a chat on Presets, and how skills run in chats on Using skills.

Questions, answered

Can I change a preset that comes with Oda?

No. Presets that come with Oda and presets installed for you cannot be changed; only your own copies are editable. A change to one of them is refused: Built-in and installed presets cannot be changed. Duplicate the preset and edit the copy. Click Duplicate, edit the copy and save; the copy is yours.

Why won't my preset save?

The editor checks the form before it saves and shows what to fix:

• Enter a name. when the name is empty.
• Use at most 64 characters for the name. or Use at most 500 characters for the description. when they are too long.
• The instructions are too long. when the instructions pass 32,768 characters.
• The skill selection is not valid. when the skill choice cannot be saved.
• Choose a model from the list or use the default model. when the model is not one of the listed ones.

If a change fails for another reason, the editor stays open with Could not change the preset: followed by the reason, for example This application cannot save presets.

Does duplicating a preset change the original?

No. The editor starts from a copy: The new preset copies the model, capabilities and instructions of this preset. The original stays unchanged.

Why is my preset's model no longer available?

The model your preset named has left the list of models your company offers, so the preset uses the default model instead. The editor explains: The saved model <model> is no longer available, so this agent uses the default model. Pick another model or keep the default. Saving without changing the model works as usual.

Why does a preset say Failed to load?

Its parts could not all start, so the preset cannot run. It stays in the list marked Failed to load, with the reason under its name, for example a part that never started or one that is still waiting for another part to load. New chats cannot start on it while it is in this state; your own copies keep Edit and Delete, so you can change the copy or remove it.

What is the code under a preset's name?

That is the preset's id, made from its name when the preset is created, using lowercase letters, digits and hyphens. You never need to type it, and renaming the preset later does not change it.

Can I rename my preset?

Yes. Open it with Edit, change the Name and save; the change applies at once to new chats. The copy name a duplicate starts with (for example, Standard mode copy) is only a starting point.