Why this matters
Most AI tools give you a single thread of thinking, no matter how big the question. Chief doesn’t. For a simple ask, you get a fast, direct answer. For a hard one — “compare our pricing to the three competitors in this folder and tell me where we’re exposed” — Chief quietly assembles a team of specialist agents that work in parallel, then hands you one synthesized, cited answer. Understanding this is the difference between treating Chief like a chatbot and treating it like an analyst bench that scales to the size of the problem.How it actually works

- Explorer — the external research specialist. It scans the open web, news, research papers, GitHub, social posts, personal sites, and financial filings. You can summon it directly by typing @explorer in your prompt.
- Librarian — your institutional memory made searchable. It works only inside your uploaded documents, project files, and transcripts, surfacing the exact passage with a citation back to the source. Summon it with @librarian.
- Researcher — the synthesis engine and a superset of the other two. It draws from your internal knowledge and the open web at once, ideal for “how do our numbers compare to the market” questions.
ℹ️ Good to Know: Agents run under Deep Intelligence mode, a paid-plan feature. If you add an agent like @explorer to a prompt, Chief’s LLM Router automatically switches that prompt into Deep Intelligence mode for you.
A worked example

FAQ
Will every question trigger a team of agents?
Will every question trigger a team of agents?
No. Simple, direct questions are answered directly by the General Agent in a single pass. Multi-agent orchestration only kicks in when the request is complex enough to benefit from decomposition and parallel work.
I asked a complex question but it answered instantly without showing any agents — why?
I asked a complex question but it answered instantly without showing any agents — why?
The most common reason is that you weren’t in Deep Intelligence mode. Agents are a Deep Intelligence (paid-plan) capability. Typing an agent mention like @explorer nudges the LLM Router to switch that prompt into Deep Intelligence mode; without it, straightforward prompts may be handled directly.
Can I control which agents run?
Can I control which agents run?
You can request specific specialists directly with @explorer (external research) or @librarian (your internal documents). The Planner and General Agent handle the rest of the orchestration automatically.