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When you chat with Starcat, you pick a mode and an agent tier from the selector in the chat input. The mode decides how much Starcat is allowed to do; the tier decides how much reasoning power it brings.

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Modes

Starcat runs in one of four modes. Agent mode is the default.
ModeWhat it doesReach for it when
AgentTakes action: runs tools, writes data, and dispatches projects.You want Starcat to make the change, not just talk about it.
PlanRead-only. Researches and drafts a plan for your approval before anything changes.The task is non-trivial and you want to review the approach first.
DesignIterates on visual designs and HTML preview mockups, without touching your data.You’re mocking up a layout or exploring a look before building.
ChatAnswers questions without making any changes.You just want to ask about your business, knowledge store, or apps.
In Agent mode you can also turn on developer agents so Starcat can create apps and dispatch work to projects. See Allowing developer agents below.

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Agent Tiers

Next to the mode, you choose an agent tier. Starcat uses the same four tiers as the Developer Agent: Lite, Core, Plus, and Pro. They trade speed and cost against reasoning depth. Starcat defaults to Plus.
  • Lite or Core for quick questions, knowledge-store lookups, and light edits.
  • Plus (the default) for most day-to-day work, including operating your apps and planning changes.
  • Pro for complex orchestration across several projects, or anything that needs the deepest reasoning.
See Agent Tiers on the Developer Agent page for the full breakdown of each tier.

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Conversation Settings

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Chat visibility

Every conversation has a visibility you set from the chat’s settings:
  • Personal — only you can see the chat. This is the default.
  • Shared with org — anyone in your organization can see it.
Visibility is per-chat, and you can change it at any time. The toggle works the same whether you’re in the standalone dashboard or the Starcat sidebar next to an app you’ve opened. Use Shared with org for work your team should be able to follow or pick up.

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Allowing developer agents

By default Starcat answers questions and operates your existing apps. Building new apps and dispatching work to Developer Agents is gated behind a per-conversation toggle. Turn on developer agents for a chat when you want Starcat to coordinate changes across your projects. Operating your apps’ APIs doesn’t require this toggle; it’s controlled separately by each app’s Allow agent access setting.

Starcat Overview

What Starcat is and everything it can do

Best Practices

Tips for getting the most out of Starcat