YAML Configuration

Agents are defined as YAML files committed to your repo under .dinoai/agents/. Each file defines one agent.

The agent builder in the app writes this same format: when deploying from Creating Agents in the App you choose whether the agent is saved to the workspace only or committed to your repo with this schema through a pull request.

Full Example

name: pr-reviewer        # must match file name
version: 1               # schema version (currently 1)

environment: analytics-prod   # optional: run in this Agent environment

role: >
  PR Review Orchestrator responsible for assessing all aspects of a pull
  request across dbt™ models.

goal: >
  Review incoming PRs for quality, coverage, and correctness.
  Delegate specialist work where needed.

backstory: >
  You coordinate reviews across multiple quality dimensions and know when
  to call in specialists.

tools:
  mode: allowlist         # "allowlist" or "denylist"
  list:
    - read_file
    - search_files_and_directories
    - ripgrep_search
    - post_slack_message
    - invoke_agent        # required to delegate to sub-agents

agents_squad:             # sub-agents this agent may invoke
  - test-maintainer

slack:
  channel: "#pr-reviews"

Field Reference

Field	Required	Description
`name`	Yes	Unique identifier. Must match the YAML file name (without `.yml`).
`version`	Yes	Schema version for forward compatibility. Currently `1`.
`role`	Yes	What the agent is (injected into the system prompt each turn).
`goal`	Yes	What the agent is trying to achieve.
`backstory`	Yes	How the agent approaches problems.
`tools.mode`	If `tools` present	`allowlist` (only listed tools available) or `denylist` (all tools except listed).
`tools.list`	If `tools` present	Tool names to allow or deny.
`slack.channel`	No	If present, a Slack thread is created at run start and all agent messages post there. Requires Slack integration configured and Paradime bot invited to the slack channel
`agents_squad`	No	Names of sub-agents this agent is permitted to invoke via `invoke_agent`.
`model_family`	No	Slug of the model family the agent runs on. Omit it to use the workspace default. An unknown slug falls back to the default family and warns in the run output.
`environment`	No	Slug of the Agent environment the agent runs in, deciding its warehouse connection, dbt™ version, and partial parsing. Omit it to use the workspace’s default Agent environment. An unknown slug fails the session at startup.

Important: If the tools block is omitted entirely, the agent has access to all available tools. Use an allowlist for production agents to limit blast radius.

Tool Modes

allowlist — only the tools listed are available to the agent. Recommended for production agents.

tools:
  mode: allowlist
  list:
    - read_file
    - run_sql_query

denylist — all tools are available except the ones listed.

tools:
  mode: denylist
  list:
    - write_file
    - run_terminal_command

A small set of core tools is always available regardless of mode: an allowlist does not need to name them, and a denylist cannot remove them. See Always-available tools. Sub-agents started with run_subagent inherit the parent agent’s tool gating.

MCP tools

List tools from external MCP servers under tools, like any other tool. MCP tool names look like mcp__<server>__<tool>, and mcp__<server>__* matches every tool from one server. Without a tools block, or with a denylist that doesn’t name them, the agent gets every MCP tool its server and environment allow. The separate mcpTools block that agents used to limit MCP tools is deprecated. If an agent still has one, it keeps limiting the agent’s MCP tools on top of tools.

Connect external MCP servers: connecting servers, choosing their tools, and MCP tool names
Tools Reference — Full list of tool names for tools.list
Agent-to-Agent Delegation — Using agents_squad and invoke_agent

Slack Bot Agent

Programmable Agent

Bolt Pipeline Agent

Copilot

MCP Server

Context & Customization

DinoAI Tools

Settings & Credits

YAML Configuration

Full Example

Field Reference

Tool Modes

MCP tools

​Full Example

​Field Reference

​Tool Modes

​MCP tools

​Related

Full Example

Field Reference

Tool Modes

MCP tools

Related