An Agent is how Dosu shows up on a platform (GitHub, Slack, Microsoft Teams) to answer questions and take action. This page covers how people interact with an Agent, how to engage Dosu, and how Dosu decides when to respond on its own. It sets up the rest of the Automation section.
How to interact with Dosu#
The most direct way to get an answer is to mention Dosu. When you mention it, Dosu reads the thread, searches the Sources connected to its Library, and replies in place with cited context.
- GitHub. Mention
@dosuin an issue, a pull request, or a discussion in a connected repository. You can also edit an existing comment to add the mention, and Dosu responds to the edited message. - Slack. Mention
@Dosuin a channel where an Agent is configured, or send Dosu a direct message. The first time you DM Dosu, it automatically sets up a private Agent, which requires a linked Dosu account (sign in at app.dosu.dev). In a channel, you can switch which Library Dosu draws from with the/dosu selectslash command. - Microsoft Teams. Mention the Dosu app in a channel where it is configured to ask a question.
A direct mention always gets an answer. Dosu treats it as an explicit request and skips the decision checks described below, so a mention posts immediately even when the Agent is set to draft mode.
Reply modes#
Each Agent has a Reply Mode that controls whether Dosu waits to be summoned or steps in on its own. You set it per Agent in the Agents dashboard.
- Mention. Dosu responds only when someone mentions it. This is the default for new Agents and the lowest-noise option. It is the place most teams start.
- Auto Draft. Dosu drafts a response on its own and queues it on the Review page instead of posting. Your team approves, edits, or declines each draft before it goes out. A direct mention still posts immediately, bypassing the queue.
- Auto Reply. Dosu posts on its own without waiting for review, subject to the quality checks below.
New Agents also default to preview mode, where drafts are generated and held on the Review page without posting publicly. That lets you see how Dosu answers against your Sources before it speaks in front of your users.
For GitHub Discussions, when Auto Draft or Auto Reply is on, you also choose which categories Dosu is active in. By default, it is active in Q&A and Questions.
How Dosu decides whether to reply#
When Dosu is not mentioned (Auto Draft and Auto Reply), it does not answer every message. Before drafting anything, it checks whether replying is worthwhile. Dosu replies when all of the following hold.
- Someone is actively seeking help, such as a how-to question, a bug report, or a troubleshooting request. A bug report counts as a help request, since a user who shares an error message, a stack trace, or reproduction steps is asking for help even without a literal question.
- The request is in scope for the Agent, meaning Dosu can use the connected codebase and documentation to answer it.
- Dosu has Sources and tools that can actually address the question.
- The problem has not been solved in the thread yet.
Dosu skips messages that are not help requests, feature requests, off-topic chatter, threads already resolved, simple thanks or sign-offs, or messages aimed at a specific person or team. You can narrow this further with Response Guidelines for the Agent, for example, to keep it from topics outside your product's scope.
In Auto Reply mode, Dosu also weighs the quality of a drafted answer before posting it. Speculative or generic answers, and conversations that involve disagreement or are directed at a named person, are held for review rather than auto-published, even with Auto Reply on.
