Understanding agents: Foundational, custom, and external

This post details the three types of agents within the GitLab Duo Agent Platform: Foundational (built by GitLab, e.g., GitLab Duo Chat, Planner, Security Analyst, Data Analyst, CI Expert), Custom (user-defined with system prompts for team-specific workflows), and External (run asynchronously on GitLab-managed compute, triggered by mentions, leveraging specialized AI providers like Anthropic Claude, OpenAI Codex, Amazon Q, and Gemini). It provides examples of prompts, use cases, and setup guidance for each type, emphasizing the role of system prompts for custom agents and the benefits of external agents for specialized tasks and compliance.