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ADE does not ship its own coding agent. It runs provider runtimes — the same CLIs and SDKs you already use — and gives them a shared workspace.

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Providers

A provider is an agent runtime with its own tool loop, prompt, and authentication. ADE drives thirteen: The five ACP providers share one host and one session-config shape. The rest each have their own adapter.
ADE downloads its own pinned copy of each runtime for the machine that runs the chat, the first time it is needed. It never runs an agent CLI from your PATH. Model calls go from your machine to the provider, not through ADE.

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Models

A model is selected per session, not per project. You can switch models inside the same provider mid-session, and start a different session on a different model in the same lane. That is the point of separating the two: the agent runtime decides how work happens, the model decides how well it reasons, and neither choice locks the other.
Choosing a model and permission mode in the ADE composer

The composer carries the session's model, permission mode, and reasoning effort.

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Credentials and cost

Every turn is priced against what actually paid for it: a subscription plan, an API key, or a local model at zero cost. ADE’s usage surfaces report by account, so a mixed setup stays legible. You can mix credentials freely — a Claude subscription for chat, an API key for a cheaper model on a side task, a local model through Ollama for offline work.

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Harnesses and routes

A harness is the agent program ADE runs, such as Claude Code, Codex, Droid or Pi. Usually a harness runs on its own provider’s models. A custom provider pairs a harness with a model from somewhere else (another provider’s sign-in, a provider connected inside OpenCode, or a stored API key) and saves it with a name and logo. Claude Code can run on your ChatGPT plan, or Codex on your Claude plan, using the sign-ins you already have. Custom providers are saved to your ADE account and appear as the first tab of every model picker. Agents and scripts list the choices with ade harness routes, then launch on a saved custom provider with --preset or on any route with --via. See custom providers.

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Skills

Agents can load Agent Skills — packaged instructions for a task. ADE injects the skill roots and the guidance to read them on demand, so a session can follow a project’s own procedures without you pasting them into the prompt.

AI providers

Connect subscriptions, keys, and local models.

Provider setup

The first-run path for one working provider.

Chat capabilities

What an agent can do inside a lane.

Subagents

Delegating work to the same provider or a different one.