> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://ade-ac1c6011-ade-im-seeing-error-messag-eright-58df792e.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CTO Agent Overview

> The CTO is ADE's project-aware AI surface — the top of an intelligent org chart for delegating work, syncing with Linear, and answering questions about your codebase.

## What is the CTO Agent?

The **CTO** (Chief Technical Officer) is ADE's persistent, project-scoped AI surface for coordinating worker agents. Its system prompt includes a **Daily Context** routine (check recent decisions and worker activity at each activation) and a **Decision Framework** (act autonomously when safe, escalate when risky). These protocols survive compaction.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Worker Wakeups" icon="eye">
    Workers can be woken on demand or by per-worker timer settings from CTO > Team.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Org Chart Model" icon="sitemap">
    The CTO sits at the top of an agent hierarchy. It spawns and coordinates specialized Worker agents (Employees) to handle specific tasks.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bidirectional Linear Sync" icon="arrow-right-arrow-left">
    Reads from and writes to Linear. Creates issues from code changes, updates issue status when PRs merge, and adds analysis comments automatically.
  </Card>

  <Card title="PR Convergence" icon="arrows-spin">
    Drives PRs to merge readiness autonomously — starts convergence rounds, monitors CI and review comments, and manages the full resolution loop via five dedicated operator tools.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Project Awareness" icon="diagram-project">
    Uses current lane, PR, Linear, worker run, and repository context to make delegation decisions.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## CTO vs. Regular Agents

Understanding how the CTO differs from the agents you spawn manually (in chat sessions or worker runs) helps you know when to use each.

|                   | **CTO Agent**                                                                  | **Regular / Worker Agent**                                    |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Lifecycle**     | Persistent project-scoped chat and coordination context                        | Ephemeral or persistent worker identity                       |
| **Scope**         | Entire project                                                                 | Specific lane, task, or worker run                            |
| **Context**       | Project, lane, PR, Linear, and worker run state                                | Current session or assigned lane                              |
| **Triggers**      | Manual chat, Linear/PR workflows, and worker wakeups                           | Explicit user action, automation trigger, or per-worker timer |
| **Authority**     | Can spawn lanes, create worker runs, delegate to workers, drive PR convergence | Operates within its assigned lane/context                     |
| **Linear access** | Full bidirectional sync (owner)                                                | Read-only via ADE CLI tools, if granted                       |
| **Primary UI**    | CTO tab                                                                        | Lane terminal, Chat pane, Workers tab                         |

***

## The Org Chart Model

The CTO implements an **org chart model** for AI work delegation.

```
CTO (always-on, project-scoped)
├── Worker: "auth-specialist"   (specialized for auth work)
├── Worker: "test-writer"       (ephemeral, created for one task)
└── Worker: "pr-reviewer"       (persistent, reviews all new PRs)
```

The CTO sits at the top. Below it are **Worker agents** (also called Employees) — specialized sub-agents the CTO creates and assigns to specific tasks or lanes. Workers have:

* A **name**, **role**, **title**, and **capabilities** that define their focus
* Optional **Linear identity matching** fields so incoming Linear work can map back to the right worker
* An **adapter** and model/process command for the runtime that will execute work
* A **monthly budget** and optional heartbeat settings

The CTO coordinates workers: it assigns tasks, monitors their output, routes their results back to Linear or PRs, and intervenes if a worker is stuck or over budget.

***

## Explore CTO Features

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Setting Up the CTO" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/cto/setup">
    Walk through onboarding, worker heartbeat configuration, and verifying the CTO team is active.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Linear Integration" icon="arrow-right-arrow-left" href="/cto/linear">
    Connect Linear for bidirectional issue sync, status updates, and intelligent triage.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workers & Budget" icon="users" href="/cto/workers">
    Hire workers, manage budgets, configure practical workflows, and troubleshoot issues.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>