Choose Between the Agent and Admin Users

Use agent for repositories, coding agents, and everyday commands. Use admin when you need to install system packages or change machine-wide configuration.

How the users differ

User	Typical work	Administrative access
agent	Edit projects, run AI agents, use Squad and shared memory	No sudo privileges by default.
admin	Install system tools and perform Ubuntu administration	Can use sudo.

The accounts have different home folders and credentials. Provider logins and project files created under one user are not automatically the working environment of the other.

Switch in the web terminal

Open Terminal options in the terminal toolbar.
Under Terminal user, select agent or admin.
Run whoami if you want to confirm the account.

The AI agent launcher and managed persistent Herdr session belong to the agent user. The admin web terminal opens an ordinary shell. Return to the agent account before starting normal AI work.

Run an administrative command

The authenticated admin web terminal supports sudo without a password prompt. Over SSH, sudo can require the admin password shown in Settings. Use admin access only for the system change you intend.

Avoid working on an agent-owned repository as admin unless you need to repair its permissions. Files created with elevated privileges can become difficult to edit through the agent terminal or file browser.

The two users help separate everyday work from administration; they are not separate virtual computers.

Continue with Install Project Dependencies and Additional Tools or Understand Computer Security and Isolation.