---
source_keys:
  - context7-websites-code-claude
  - claude-code-plugins-docs
  - claude-code-subagents-docs
  - context7-github-en-copilot
  - github-custom-agents-configuration
  - github-cli-plugin-reference
---

# Agent Deployment Modes

Agent definitions deploy at three scopes and behave differently at each. The scope determines which fields are honoured, where files must live, and what identifiers users invoke.

## Scope hierarchy and precedence

| Scope | Claude Code path | Copilot CLI path | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|---|
| User | `~/.claude/agents/` | `~/.copilot/agents/` | All sessions for this user |
| Project | `.claude/agents/` | `.github/agents/` or `.copilot/agents/` | This repo only |
| Plugin/APM | `<package-root>/.apm/agents/<name>.agent.md` — single vendor-neutral file, `apm compile` emits it to both targets | *(same file)* | Sessions with the plugin/package installed |

When the same agent `name` appears at multiple scopes, **user scope wins over project scope wins over plugin scope** in Claude Code. In Copilot CLI, repo-level agents override enterprise and org-level; home-directory (user) agents override repo-level on name collision.

## Plugin scope restrictions

Plugin/APM agents (`.apm/agents/<name>.agent.md`) carry only the fields in the `apm-agent-allowlist` section of `agent-audit`'s `references/field-inventory.md`. That section is the authoritative list — `agent-audit`'s `validate.sh` reads it from there as data, and it changes — so consult it rather than any restatement of it. `apm compile` copies this frontmatter verbatim to both the Claude Code and Copilot CLI compile targets with no per-target integrator, so a harness-specific value is guaranteed wrong on at least one target (ADR-0016).

**The rule is about a field's shape, not a fixed roster.** `tools` is an **allowlist** whose vocabulary differs per harness — Claude Code names its own tools, Copilot CLI uses aliases (`execute`/`read`/`edit`/`search`/`agent`/`web`) — so under verbatim copy one value is wrong on one target. It stays out. `disallowedTools` is a **denylist**, and denying by name has no such conflict: a name the other harness does not recognise denies nothing, so the worst case is that the fence is absent there, never that a capability is wrongly granted. That asymmetry is why the denylist is admitted where the allowlist is not (ADR-0016's 2026-08-14 amendment). Claude Code honours it for plugin subagents — `docs/research/docs/claude-code-plugins/agent-definition.md:99` names the three fields plugin agents silently ignore (`hooks`, `mcpServers`, `permissionMode`) and `disallowedTools` is not among them. It is a partial fence: it denies only the tools it names, not `Bash`, which a plugin-scope agent with no `tools` inherits — so state read-only intent in the body too.

This makes the old "silently ignored at plugin scope" framing moot for the excluded fields. It's not that `hooks`, `mcpServers`, `permissionMode`, `tools`, `isolation`, `maxTurns`, `effort`, `memory`, `skills`, `color`, `initialPrompt`, or `background` are merely ignored at this scope — they are never written to the file at all. Copy the agent to `.claude/agents/` (project scope) or `~/.claude/agents/` (user scope) to use any of them.

## Scoped identifiers (Claude Code plugin agents only)

Plugin agents in **subdirectories** get compound identifiers:

```
plugins/my-plugin/.apm/agents/review/security.agent.md  →  my-plugin:review:security
```

Users must invoke with `@agent-my-plugin:review:security`. **Keep agents flat in `agents/` to avoid this** — subdirectory nesting is rarely worth the UX cost.

At project and user scope, subdirectory path does not affect the agent's name.

## Cache isolation

When a plugin is installed, its directory is copied to a cache. **Any path that leaves the agent's plugin directory breaks post-install.** Agent definition files must be self-contained — they cannot reference scripts, templates, or shared files outside the plugin.

Agents at project or user scope are read directly from disk; cache isolation does not apply.

## Copilot CLI path conventions

| Scope | Expected path | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| User | `~/.copilot/agents/<name>.agent.md` | Home directory |
| Project | `.github/agents/<name>.agent.md` | Standard; also `.copilot/agents/` |
| Plugin/APM | `<package-root>/.apm/agents/<name>.agent.md` | Not a Copilot-only file — this is the single vendor-neutral source `apm compile` reads for the Copilot CLI target |

The `.agent.md` extension is **mandatory** for real Copilot CLI files (project/user scope) — Copilot CLI does not pick up plain `.md` files in the `agents/` directory. The plugin/APM source file also uses `.agent.md` by convention, since it compiles to Copilot CLI too, but it is not itself a Copilot file.