skills/react-core/references/switching-agents-recipes.md
Three copy-paste patterns for multi-agent UIs. All subscribe to
copilotkit.subscribe({ onAgentsChanged }) for live agent discovery — there
is no useAgents() hook.
"use client";
import { CopilotChat, useCopilotKit } from "@copilotkit/react-core/v2";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
export function DropdownAgentSwitcher() {
const { copilotkit } = useCopilotKit();
const [agentIds, setAgentIds] = useState<string[]>(() =>
Object.keys(copilotkit.agents ?? {}),
);
const [activeAgent, setActiveAgent] = useState<string>(
() => Object.keys(copilotkit.agents ?? {})[0] ?? "default",
);
useEffect(() => {
const sub = copilotkit.subscribe({
onAgentsChanged: ({ agents }) => {
setAgentIds(Object.keys(agents ?? {}));
},
});
return () => sub.unsubscribe();
}, [copilotkit]);
return (
<div className="flex flex-col gap-3">
<select
value={activeAgent}
onChange={(e) => setActiveAgent(e.target.value)}
>
{agentIds.map((id) => (
<option key={id} value={id}>
{id}
</option>
))}
</select>
<CopilotChat key={activeAgent} agentId={activeAgent} />
</div>
);
}
"use client";
import { CopilotChat, useCopilotKit } from "@copilotkit/react-core/v2";
import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
export function TabsAgentSwitcher() {
const { copilotkit } = useCopilotKit();
const [agentIds, setAgentIds] = useState<string[]>(() =>
Object.keys(copilotkit.agents ?? {}),
);
const [activeAgent, setActiveAgent] = useState<string>(
() => agentIds[0] ?? "default",
);
// Hold activeAgent in a ref so the subscribe effect only re-binds when
// `copilotkit` changes. Depending on `activeAgent` would tear down and
// re-establish the subscription on every tab click.
const activeAgentRef = useRef(activeAgent);
useEffect(() => {
activeAgentRef.current = activeAgent;
}, [activeAgent]);
useEffect(() => {
const sub = copilotkit.subscribe({
onAgentsChanged: ({ agents }) => {
const ids = Object.keys(agents ?? {});
setAgentIds(ids);
if (!ids.includes(activeAgentRef.current) && ids.length > 0) {
setActiveAgent(ids[0]);
}
},
});
return () => sub.unsubscribe();
}, [copilotkit]);
return (
<div>
<div role="tablist" className="flex gap-2 border-b">
{agentIds.map((id) => (
<button
key={id}
role="tab"
aria-selected={id === activeAgent}
onClick={() => setActiveAgent(id)}
>
{id}
</button>
))}
</div>
<CopilotChat key={activeAgent} agentId={activeAgent} />
</div>
);
}
Cycles through agents with Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + A.
"use client";
import { CopilotChat, useCopilotKit } from "@copilotkit/react-core/v2";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
export function KeyboardAgentSwitcher() {
const { copilotkit } = useCopilotKit();
const [agentIds, setAgentIds] = useState<string[]>(() =>
Object.keys(copilotkit.agents ?? {}),
);
const [activeAgent, setActiveAgent] = useState<string>(
() => agentIds[0] ?? "default",
);
useEffect(() => {
const sub = copilotkit.subscribe({
onAgentsChanged: ({ agents }) => setAgentIds(Object.keys(agents ?? {})),
});
return () => sub.unsubscribe();
}, [copilotkit]);
useEffect(() => {
function onKey(e: KeyboardEvent) {
const isCombo = (e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey) && e.shiftKey && e.key === "A";
if (!isCombo || agentIds.length === 0) return;
e.preventDefault();
const idx = agentIds.indexOf(activeAgent);
const next = agentIds[(idx + 1) % agentIds.length];
setActiveAgent(next);
}
window.addEventListener("keydown", onKey);
return () => window.removeEventListener("keydown", onKey);
}, [agentIds, activeAgent]);
return (
<div>
<div className="text-xs opacity-60">
Active: {activeAgent} — press ⌘/Ctrl+Shift+A to cycle
</div>
<CopilotChat key={activeAgent} agentId={activeAgent} />
</div>
);
}
copilotkit.subscribe({ onAgentsChanged }) — there is no useAgents() hook.key={activeAgent} on <CopilotChat> so thread state doesn't leak when swapping agents in the same slot.sub.unsubscribe() in the effect cleanup.