How to manually call agents, templates, skills, knowledge, and apps with @-mentions

Summary

Assist usually picks the right agent or template for you automatically. When you want to take control, type @ in the chat composer to open a picker and choose exactly which agent, output template, skill, knowledge item, or app to use. This is the fastest way to point Assist at a specific resource instead of letting it guess.

What you'll learn

By the end of this article, you'll know:

What "manually calling" a resource means in Assist
The five things you can @-mention: agents, output templates, skills, knowledge, and apps
How to insert a mention step by step
When to use @-mentions and when to let Assist auto-route
Common tips and pitfalls to avoid

The main explanation

What "manually calling" means

Most of the time, Assist will figure out the right agent or template to use based on your request. That's auto-routing, and it works well for general prompts.

Sometimes you know exactly what you want — a specific agent, a particular template you've used before, or a knowledge item that's easy to miss. In those cases, you can manually call the resource by typing @ in the chat composer. A picker pops up, you select what you want, and Assist uses that resource instead of choosing for you.

What you can @-mention

The picker is grouped by type. You can mention any of the following:

Agents — specialist personas like @ResearchAgent or @ReleaseWriter . The mentioned agent takes over the reply.
Output Templates — pre-built document, image, or app templates. Mentioning one starts a new output from that template.
Skills — bundled capabilities, often installed by an admin. Mentioning a skill triggers it directly.
Knowledge — specific knowledge items. Pulls that exact item into context instead of relying on search to find it.
Apps — interactive app-type outputs you can launch straight from chat.

When to use it (and when not to)

Use @-mentions when:

You know exactly which agent or template you want.
You want to force a specific output template you've used before.
You want to pin a specific knowledge item that auto-search might miss.

Skip @-mentions for general or exploratory requests — Assist's auto-routing is usually faster and good enough.

Example / walkthrough

Here's how to insert an @-mention from start to finish:

Open the chat composer in any Assist workspace or project.
Type @ . A picker appears, grouped by type (Agents, Templates, Skills, Knowledge, Apps).
Start typing to filter the list. For example, type @res to narrow down to ResearchAgent.
Select your choice by clicking it or pressing Enter. It becomes a coloured chip in your message.
Write the rest of your prompt around the chip. For example: @ResearchAgent summarise the latest trends in retail AI.
Send the message. Assist routes the request to exactly what you mentioned.

You can chain multiple mentions in one message — for example: @ResearchAgent using @BrandGuidelines write a one-pager.

Tips & common pitfalls

Tips

You can mix and match — combine an agent with a knowledge item or template in the same message.
Mentions become coloured chips. To remove one, backspace over the chip and it deletes cleanly.
If you're not sure what's available, just type @ on its own and browse the picker.

Common pitfalls

Mentions are scoped to what you can see. You can only mention resources you have permission to access (organisation, workspace, project, or your private space).
Newly created agents or templates aren't mentionable straight away. The picker refreshes per turn — send your next message and they'll show up.
Mention not appearing? Check you're in the right workspace or project, and that you have access to the resource.
Don't over-mention. For simple questions, skip the @ — Assist's auto-routing handles most things without extra effort.