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Background agents are Catalyst runs that execute on a schedule without you sending each message manually. An agent works over your team’s tickets, workflows, databases, and connected apps on a recurring cadence, then surfaces what it found as a finding you can review, act on, or dismiss. Use background agents for recurring, proactive work: summarizing the last day of tickets, scanning your device fleet for at-risk endpoints, reclaiming unused licenses, or spotting automation opportunities across your ticket volume.
Catalyst Agents view showing scheduled agents with instructions, schedules, and status

The Agents view listing scheduled runs with their instructions, schedules, and status

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How background agents work

  1. The agent runs on its schedule (or when you run it manually).
  2. Each run is a Catalyst session you can open to see exactly what the agent did.
  3. When a run produces something worth reviewing, it becomes a finding in the Agents feed.
  4. You review the finding and apply, propose, dismiss, or acknowledge it.
A run only becomes a finding when it produces reviewable substance: an action the agent took or a highlight worth surfacing. Runs that find nothing actionable complete without creating a finding.

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Create an agent

You can start from a blank agent or install a prebuilt one.
1

Open the Agents view

Go to Catalyst → Agents.
2

Start a new agent or install one

Choose New agent to write your own, or pick a prebuilt agent from the marketplace (see Installable agents). Installed agents come with a ready-made prompt and schedule you can edit.
3

Configure the agent

Fill in the fields below, then save.

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Agent settings

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required
How you identify the agent in the list, for example “Daily ticket review.”
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required
What the agent should do each run. Be specific about what to look at and what to produce, for example: “Investigate open tickets and summarize anything concerning.”
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How often the agent runs: Hourly, Daily, Weekdays, Weekly, or None for a manual-only agent you run on demand. Daily, weekday, and weekly schedules let you set the time of day. Weekly also lets you pick the day. Start times may vary by a few minutes.
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The user whose permissions the agent uses while it runs. The agent can only see and do what that user can, so choose someone with the access the agent needs.
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An optional action to take when the run finishes: Run a workflow, Create a ticket, or Auto-publish changes (publish the run’s staged changes without a manual review step).
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Optionally notify a user when the agent produces a report (Report ready), needs input to proceed (Action required), or finishes regardless of outcome (Session completed).
The Run as user determines the agent’s permissions on every run. If that user’s access changes, the agent’s capabilities change with it.

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Installable agents

Instead of writing a prompt from scratch, install a prebuilt agent for a common use case and customize it. Each ships with a recommended schedule you can change.
When an installed agent gets a new version, its entry shows New version available so you can pull in the updated prompt.

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Review findings

Each finding is the agent’s pitch for a single run. Open one from the Agents feed to see:
  • Highlights: the key points on why the run matters.
  • Activity: the concrete actions the agent took during the run.
  • Sources: the tickets, resources, and web pages the agent drew on.
  • Changes to review: any staged changes (workflows, skills, knowledge) the agent drafted, ready to inspect before publishing.
From a finding you can:
  • Apply the suggested changes, or Propose for review on teams that require approval before publishing (see Changes and reviews).
  • Dismiss the finding when there are staged changes you don’t want.
  • Acknowledge the finding to clear it when there is nothing to apply.
  • Chat about this to open the agent’s session and continue the work in Catalyst.
Findings you have already applied, dismissed, or acknowledged move to Past findings, where you can revisit them and open the underlying run.

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Manage agents

From the Agents view you can pause, resume, edit, and delete any agent. Pausing stops the schedule without deleting the agent or its history. Every run, scheduled or manual, creates a Catalyst session, so you can always open a run to inspect exactly what the agent did.

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Learn more

Catalyst workspace

The Chat, Agents, and Catalyst skills views

Changes and reviews

How staged changes are reviewed and published

Building workflows

Build automations with Catalyst

Permissions

Who can create and manage agents