Capabilities & Limits
Every mesh call is gated the same way
Every agent_* tool requires the calling agent to already hold mesh capability, and every call is scoped to a single workspace — a call that reaches for a peer outside the caller's own workspace is refused, mirroring the same boundary the canvas enforces for the same reason. See MCP Tools for this stated against the full tool list, and Explanation: Agent Mesh for why the boundary is drawn at the workspace rather than, say, the machine.
The master switch
Mesh Messaging, in Settings ▸ Agents, turns the entire capability on or off for a workspace. It's on by default. Turning it off removes the drag-to-message handle and the gear menu's Message Agent… entry from every pane, and — since the same mailbox backs both — it removes an agent's own ability to use agent_trigger meaningfully as well.
Expanding a channel is a second, narrower gate
Holding mesh capability lets an agent send and originate. It does not, by itself, let an agent grow who's in a channel. A separate setting — off by default — controls whether an agent can even request that another agent be invited into a channel it's already in, or that a new agent be created and invited the same way. Switched on, such a request still never changes membership directly: it's delivered as an ordinary message for a human to see and act on, the same as any other mesh message, never a silent addition. See Teams & Channels for this in context.
The kill switch
A toggle labelled Stop All Agent Conversations is always visible in the header of the Agents gallery — not tucked away in Settings. That placement is deliberate: it's the one control you need to reach the instant agent-to-agent traffic has to stop, and a control buried behind a modal is the wrong distance for that. Turning it on immediately halts all agent-to-agent mesh delivery across the workspace — channels and direct messages alike. Messages already queued for next-turn delivery are not un-sent, but nothing new is accepted until it's turned off again.
The same underlying stop is also reachable as a Stop All Orchestration button inside Settings ▸ Agents ▸ Orchestration, once that section's own controls are visible. The gallery's toggle does not depend on Orchestration being enabled at all — it stops mesh delivery outright, regardless of whether Cross-Agent Orchestration is on, off, or not included in the current plan.
This is not the same gate as Cross-Agent Orchestration
Everything on this page governs a single mesh action: one send, one channel membership request. Cross-Agent Orchestration — chains where one agent's action triggers another agent, which can itself go on to trigger further gated action — is governed separately, with its own pair of independent gates (a cloud entitlement and a local setting, both off by default) and its own depth and breadth limits. A single mesh message never needs Orchestration to be enabled at all. See Explanation: Orchestration Governance and How to gate autonomous chains for that separate layer in full.
Where to go next
- MCP Tools — the capability and scoping requirements stated per tool.
- Settings Reference — every mesh-related setting and its default.
- Delivery Semantics — what these gates guard access to.