Devin Desktop — Agents
- File format
- Markdown
- Discovery paths
.devin/agents,.agents/agents- Global install path
~/.config/devin/agents- Syllago install method
- Symlink, Direct copy
- Symlink support
- No
- Native frontmatter fields
name,description,model,allowed-tools,tools,max-nesting
Features
How each feature converts to syllago's canonical format. See format conversion for what these statuses mean.
Fields
Native frontmatter or config fields this provider exposes. The first column is the provider's own field name; the canonical key column links to syllago's cross-provider equivalent.
| Provider field | Conversion | Canonical key | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
allowed-tools | TranslatedConversion type: TranslatedActively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion.Learn more → | tool_restrictions | allowed-tools frontmatter list (alias tools) restricts the tools a subagent can use, by Devin tool name (read, edit, write, grep, glob, exec, mcp__server__tool). ask_user_question is always withheld from subagents. |
model | TranslatedConversion type: TranslatedActively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion.Learn more → | model_selection | model frontmatter field overrides the subagent model; the default is the router-selected subagent model, not the parent's. |
max-nesting | DroppedConversion type: DroppedCan’t be meaningfully preserved. Removed from the output with a portability warning.Learn more → | — | max-nesting sets how deep a custom subagent may spawn child subagents. The canonical agent format has no equivalent, so syllago drops it on import. |
Other features
Behaviors, conventions, and capabilities that aren't tied to a single named field — things like path-based activation, discovery rules, and lifecycle behavior.
| Feature | Conversion | Summary |
|---|---|---|
agent_scopes | TranslatedConversion type: TranslatedActively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion.Learn more → | Project scope at .devin/agents/ and .agents/agents/; user scope at ~/.config/devin/agents/ (Windows %APPDATA%\devin\agents\). |
definition_format | TranslatedConversion type: TranslatedActively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion.Learn more → | Markdown file with YAML frontmatter (name, description, model, allowed-tools, max-nesting) followed by the subagent's system prompt, as agents/<name>.md or agents/<name>/AGENT.md (AGENTS.md, agent.md, agents.md also accepted). |
invocation_patterns | TranslatedConversion type: TranslatedActively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion.Learn more → | The agent picks a profile by its description when spawning a subagent; the user can ask for a profile by name. Subagents run in the foreground or background. |
subagent_spawning | TranslatedConversion type: TranslatedActively mapped to the target provider’s equivalent field during conversion.Learn more → | max-nesting frontmatter field lets a custom subagent spawn its own subagents up to that depth; nesting is disabled by default. |
| Directory-form agent definitions | PreservedConversion type: PreservedSyntax survives conversion but the target provider may not interpret it.Learn more → | An agent can be a directory agents/<name>/AGENT.md instead of a flat agents/<name>.md file; the directory name becomes the profile identifier. |
Sources
| Source |
|---|
| https://docs.devin.ai/cli/subagents.md |