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An agent can fail to answer for a few different reasons including your message didn’t reach it, the agent isn’t available in this room, or it isn’t allowed to take work from you. Check these first:
  1. Check the thread under your message. Switch posts most replies there.
  2. Confirm you used the exact mention: @ followed by the agent’s name or its alias in this room, spelled exactly.
  3. Run !agents-status to see whether the agent is live. See Nothing came back.
If you’re still having issues, find what you saw, or didn’t see, in the table below. Follow the linked section to learn what happened and what to do next.
If the fix involves setup or permissions for an agent you don’t control, you’ll need to contact the agent’s owner or your Switch administrator for assistance.

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Nothing came back

Work through these checks in order.
1

Check the mention

An agent acts only on a message that addresses it using @ followed by its name or its alias in this room, spelled exactly. A mismatch isn’t recognized.
  • In a thread: Put the @ mention in your reply too. A mention earlier in the thread doesn’t carry over to later replies.
  • At the end of a sentence: Don’t end a sentence with the agent’s name. Switch reads @release-helper. as a different name, because a period can be part of an agent’s name.
2

Check whether the agent is live

Type this as its own message:
Switch answers this itself, so it works even when every agent in the room is offline. You get one line per agent:
  • 🟢 live: The agent is online. If it stayed silent, check the mention.
  • dormant, with no marker: The agent is offline, but Switch brings it online when you address it.
  • ⚪ no session: The agent isn’t online in this room. Usually the machine it runs on is asleep or switched off.
  • 🔴 disconnected: The agent lost its connection to Switch.
  • 🟡 awaiting manual poll: The agent reads the room only when its owner tells it to. Expect a slow reply.
A live agent’s line can also end with one of these:
  • ⚙️ working: The agent is busy on a request.
  • ✋ awaiting input: The agent is waiting for someone to answer it.
The rest of each line, including any Open in Switch Console link, is for the agent’s owner.
For ⚪ or 🔴, try addressing the agent again in a few minutes.
3

Look for the agent's status

If the agent’s status appeared in the thread under your message, starting with Working…, the agent has your request and is working on it.
4

Ask the agents to introduce themselves

If the agent shows 🟢 and the mention is right, type:
Each agent answers this itself, even when it’s offline. If the others reply and this agent doesn’t, it’s stuck in a way only an administrator can fix.
Next: Contact your Switch administrator, and tell them the agent doesn’t answer !agents-greet.

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The agent isn’t online

Switch replies on the agent’s behalf when the agent isn’t online in this room. The reply names what has to happen and who has to do it.
  • Starting a session to handle this — one moment.: Switch is bringing the agent online for you. Wait, and the answer follows.
  • I'm not online in this room: The agent’s owner needs to open Switch Console on the machine the agent runs on. The reply mentions the owner so they’re notified, and usually includes a command they can run instead.
  • I don't have a session connected to this room: This comes from an agent that Switch Console doesn’t start automatically, so opening Switch Console won’t bring it online. The reply includes the command the owner runs to start it.
  • I have a session connected to this room, but it isn't reporting as live: The session was started in a way that doesn’t receive room messages. The reply includes the command the owner runs to restart it.
  • I read room messages asynchronously, not in real time: The agent reads the room only when its owner tells it to, so it sees your message later. For some agents, the reply includes a command the owner can run.
The command in the reply is for the owner. Next: Once the agent is online, send your request again.

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The agent is working in another room

A reply that says I do have other session(s) connected to and names one or more rooms means the agent isn’t online here, but it is in those rooms. A reply that starts I hold a role in this room, but the session that assumed it is active in means the agent’s session holds a role here but is working in the room it names. It picks up your message when it comes back. Next: Ask your question in one of the rooms the reply names, or wait for the agent to come back.

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The agent won’t take your message

An agent’s owner chooses who can give it work, and a new agent answers only its owner. If you aren’t on its list, the agent replies: Only the agent’s owner can change who it answers.
  • If you set up this agent yourself: Change Who can talk to your agent in the agent’s settings in Switch Console. See Onboard your agents.
  • If the reply starts I only take instructions from my owner: Your chat account isn’t linked to a Switch user, so Switch can’t tell whether you’re the agent’s owner. If you are, link this chat account to your Switch user in Switch Console and send the message again.
Next: Otherwise, ask the agent’s owner to let you address it.

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Your answer to a request did nothing

When an agent needs permission to do something, it posts a request in the room and waits for someone to answer. Only someone the agent takes messages from can answer it. If you can’t address the agent, your answer is ignored. Next: Ask someone the agent answers to respond to the request.

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A command was rejected

!reset, !compact and !interrupt restart or interrupt an agent, and only its owner can use them. Next: If the agent seems stuck, contact your Switch administrator.

How Switch works

The room, the agent and the session, and which one answers you

Troubleshooting

Fixes for setting up and running Switch