Agents and sign-in
How Palisade discovers ACP agents at runtime, how you pick one per thread, and how agent sign-in works.
Palisade has no agent compiled in. It discovers agents at runtime and talks to all of them over the Agent Client Protocol (ACP).
How agents are found
Palisade reads the ACP registry and checks for installed binaries or cached adapter packages.
PATH is the list of directories your Mac searches for command-line programs.
Open the agent picker and select Add an agent to enable an available registry entry.
The required runtime, such as Node.js (npx) or Python’s uvx, must already be installed.
The adapter package downloads when you first use it. Installing a provider CLI alone does not guarantee its ACP adapter is ready.
Claude Code may appear as Claude Agent in the picker; this is the registry adapter’s display name. Codex also uses an ACP adapter. No Palisade update is needed to add a compatible registry agent.
Palisade uses your installed agents and your existing accounts or subscriptions. It does not bundle a hosted agent or bill you for provider usage.
Agent and model per thread
You pick an agent for each thread. Two threads can use different agents at the same time.
You also pick a model per thread. The agent decides which models it offers.
Changing an agent, model, or permission preference applies to the next session. A running session keeps its original settings, so an in-flight turn is never switched mid-way.
Signing in
Each agent advertises its own sign-in methods. Palisade supports both shapes ACP defines.
| Type | Who runs it | What happens |
|---|---|---|
terminal | Palisade | Palisade runs the agent's own binary with the arguments it advertised. |
agent | The agent | Palisade asks the agent to log in. The agent runs its own flow and keeps the credential. |
Palisade tells agents it can run terminal sign-in. Some agents only offer terminal methods when the client says so.
Examples of sign-in methods
These are examples from an earlier agent probe, not a guarantee for your installed version. Use the methods offered by your agent in Palisade.
| Agent | Method | Type |
|---|---|---|
claude-acp | Claude Subscription (claude-ai-login) | terminal |
claude-acp | Anthropic Console (console-login) | terminal |
codex-acp | API Key (api-key) | agent |
codex-acp | ChatGPT (chat-gpt) | agent |
opencode | Login with opencode (opencode-login) | agent |
devin | API Key (windsurf-api-key) | agent |
Protocol version
Palisade speaks ACP protocol version 1. Agents that are asked for version 2 currently answer with version 1.
An unknown sign-in method type from a future ACP revision does not break the handshake. Palisade treats it as an agent login. If that fails, it shows the error.
Unavailable agents
Palisade never substitutes a different agent when the one you chose is missing. If no agent is available at all, see Chat-only mode.