Subagent profiles — README
This directory contains profile presets for the built-in subagents
shipped by pi-subagents (scout, planner, worker, oracle, reviewer,
researcher, context-builder, delegate).
A profile is a saved snapshot of settings.subagents. Loading it
overwrites the relevant block in ~/.pi/agent/settings.json. It does
not affect your custom ~/.pi/agent/agents/ollama-*.md agents —
those have their model: set in their own frontmatter.
Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
ollama.quality.json |
Best answers. All built-ins on M3 / K2.6 / K2.7-code, thinking: high. Default for real work. |
ollama.quota.json |
Save tokens. scout, context-builder, researcher, delegate use Gemini 3 Flash with thinking: low/medium. worker uses K2.7-code with thinking: medium. planner / oracle / reviewer stay on M3 / K2.6. |
How to load a profile
/subagents-load-profile ollama.quality
You'll be asked whether to also switch the parent session's model to the profile's worker model. Say yes for full effect.
To list all available profiles:
/subagents-profiles
To verify a profile is still valid (the proxy models haven't retired out from under it):
/subagents-check-profile ollama.quality
What profiles are NOT
Profiles are not automatic orchestration. Loading a profile does not trigger any workflow. It only sets the model + thinking on the 8 built-in agents that the parent (or a chain) might later invoke.
If you want automatic orchestration, see:
~/.pi/agent/chains/feature-build.chain.md— static 5-stage workflow~/.pi/agent/chains/research-brief.chain.md— static 2-stage workflow~/.pi/agent/agents/ollama-orchestrator.md— adaptive agent that decomposes a complex task and dispatches subagents at runtime
The three layers (cheat sheet)
| Layer | Lives in | Orchestrates? | Affects custom ollama-* agents? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A single subagent | ~/.pi/agent/agents/*.md |
No — it's a worker | N/A |
| A profile | ~/.pi/agent/profiles/pi-subagents/*.json |
No — it's a config swap | No |
| A chain | ~/.pi/agent/chains/*.chain.md |
Yes — static, pre-defined stages | N/A |
| The parent Pi agent | The session you're in | Yes — adaptive, per-task | Yes (its own model + tools) |
ollama-orchestrator |
~/.pi/agent/agents/ollama-orchestrator.md |
Yes — adaptive, has subagent tool |
N/A |
pi-crew team tool |
The parent's tool belt | Yes — heavy, durable, worktree-aware | N/A |
When to use which
| Situation | Reach for |
|---|---|
| One self-contained job one role can do | A single subagent (e.g. /run ollama-coder "...") |
| You want to swap defaults on the built-ins for the current session | /subagents-load-profile ollama.quality (or ollama.quota) |
| Recurring multi-step job with fixed stages | /run-chain feature-build "..." (or research-brief) |
| Complex open-ended task that needs adaptive decomposition | Tell the parent "use ollama-orchestrator to handle this" |
| Long-running, multi-writer, durable-state job | team tool (pi-crew) — say "use pi-crew to ..." |