Core concepts
The vocabulary Evident uses — agents, runners, conversations, channels, and more.
These are the core terms used across Evident. They all describe one simple idea: your agent runs on your machine, and Evident makes it reachable — from the web and from Slack.
Here's how they fit together. You create an agent and run it on your machine in local mode using the Evident CLI (the runner). You and your team then reach it through a channel — the web chat or Slack — where each chat is a conversation. For unattended setups, an agent API key lets the runner connect as the agent without a personal login.
Your agent
What you create and where it runs.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Agent | An AI assistant backed by a local OpenCode running on your machine. It is scoped to a team and reachable on its own Evident address. |
| Local mode | The runtime: your agent runs on your machine, where your code, secrets, and tools already live. Only the messages you send travel through Evident. Local mode is the only runtime. |
| Runner | The thing that runs your agent: the Evident CLI starting (or attaching to) OpenCode on your machine and connecting it to Evident. |
| CLI (evident) | The command-line tool that runs OpenCode locally and connects it to Evident. Its commands are login, logout, whoami, and run. |
Reaching your agent
How you and your team talk to it.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Conversation | Evident's stable identifier for a chat. The same conversation is reachable from the web and from Slack. |
| Channel | A way to reach your agent: the web chat or Slack. (WhatsApp is on the roadmap.) |
| Agent proxy | The agent's own Evident address that serves its chat surface. Opening the chat opens this surface, with access limited to the agent's team. |
Slack
How messages get routed once Slack is connected.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Default agent (Slack) | Your team's agent that handles Slack messages unless a per-channel or per-message override applies. |
| Per-channel override | A Slack channel can be configured to use a specific agent, mode, or model instead of the default. |
| Inline selectors | Optional markers at the start of a Slack message — [agent] +mode {model}, in any order — that override just that message. The markers are stripped from your prompt before the agent sees it. |
| View in Evident link | The link Slack posts so you can open a conversation in the agent's chat. Questions and permissions are resolved there, keeping Slack tidy. |
Access and identity
Who can use what.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Team / organization | The unit everything is scoped to. A team is created automatically the first time you use Evident. Members have roles: owner, admin, or member. |
| Agent API key | A credential scoped to a single agent. It lets a runner connect as that agent without a personal login — ideal for unattended setups. |
Next, follow the Quickstart to go from zero to a working agent in a few minutes, or read the Introduction for the bigger picture.