Modes

AlphaBase now centers behavior on agents. Legacy mode configuration is still recognized for compatibility, but it should not be used for new setups.

Current behavior

Alpha

Alpha (alpha-v3) is the current visible default primary agent. It can execute tasks directly, use connected services, and coordinate specialists when the task and permissions allow it.

Plan

The built-in plan profile is a hidden, restricted primary profile used for analysis and planning transitions. Its edit tools are denied by default and supported plan artifacts remain writable. Other tools follow the active permission policy.

There is no current user-facing default Build mode. Older build settings are compatibility input and are resolved to the current Alpha flow where appropriate.

Switch during a session

Use Tab where supported to cycle visible primary agents. Type @ to request a subagent such as general or explore where agent mentions are supported. The actual choices shown depend on the client, project configuration, and registered harness agents.

Recommended configuration

Configure the current primary explicitly when a project needs a stable choice:

alphabase.jsonc

{
  "$schema": "https://alphabase.extremeharness.com/config.json",
  "agent": {
    "alpha-v3": {
      "model": "<provider>/<model-id>",
      "permission": {
        "edit": "ask",
        "bash": "ask",
      },
    },
    "plan": {
      "permission": {
        "edit": "deny",
        "bash": "ask",
      },
    },
  },
  "default_agent": "alpha-v3",
}

Use Permissions for granular command/path rules. Agent configuration can override global permissions, and hard risk checks can still deny destructive actions.

Legacy migration

If an older project has mode or default_agent: "build" configuration:

1. Move model overrides to agent.<name>.model.
2. Move tool restrictions to permission or agent.<name>.permission.
3. Set default_agent to alpha-v3 when you want the current default flow.
4. Remove the legacy mode block after verifying the project behavior.

See Agents, Permissions, and Config.