How to switch AI agents without starting again
AI agents change quickly, and so do owners' preferences. You might start with ChatGPT and prefer Claude, or outgrow a chat app and want an always-on agent such as OpenClaw or Hermes. The good news is that with Spaces, switching does not mean reconnecting every account or rewriting everything you have taught your agent. Most of what matters lives in Spaces, not in the agent. This guide explains what moves with you, what stays behind with the old agent and how to bring it across, and a step-by-step switch that keeps customers answered throughout.
What stays in Spaces
These belong to your Spaces workspace, so a new agent picks them up as soon as it signs in:
- Your connected accounts: WhatsApp numbers, Instagram, LinkedIn, Messenger, X and email. Nothing is reconnected.
- Each account's warm-up stage. Because nothing is reconnected, accounts carry on where they were.
- Your business brief: hours, prices and links, common questions, tone, what never to promise and when to hand a chat to you.
- Routines that send set replies, and Pause everything.
- Tags, chat owners and chats handed to a person.
- Every conversation's history, which the new agent can read.
What stays with the old agent
- Your conversations with the old agent, such as a ChatGPT chat history or a Claude Project.
- Instructions saved inside the old agent, such as Project instructions, custom instructions or an always-on agent's own notes.
- Anything the old agent remembered about you in its own memory.
- Scheduled messages and routines the old agent set up stay in Spaces, but they are tied to that agent. While it is paused they wait, so check them before you remove it.
The first three are why it pays to keep your facts in the Spaces business brief rather than inside one agent. If you have been keeping them in a Project or custom instructions, bring them across before you switch.
Bring your notes across
Ask the old agent to do the work while you still have it. Names and details are examples.
| Who | Message |
|---|---|
| You, to ChatGPT | Read my Spaces business brief, then compare it with the notes I have given you in this project. List anything in my notes that is missing from the brief. |
| ChatGPT | Three things are in your notes but not the brief: delivery is £4 within three miles, cakes need 48 hours' notice, and you never promise nut-free. Your Sunday hours also differ: your notes say 9am-1pm, the brief says 10am-2pm. |
| You | Sunday is 9am-1pm. Update the brief with those four things, and change nothing else. |
| ChatGPT | Done. The brief now includes delivery, notice for cakes, the nut-free rule and Sunday 9am-1pm. |
Now the brief holds everything, and any agent you add next will read it.
A safe switch, step by step
- Bring your notes into the business brief, as above.
- Add Spaces to the new agent, using the steps on our setup page for it. It signs in to the same Spaces workspace.
- In the dashboard under Your agent, open the new agent and set what it may do. For the first few days, leave "Reply and send messages" unticked so it can only read.
- Ask the new agent to read the brief back to you, and to summarise today's chats. Check both against what you know.
- Ask the new agent to hold replies as drafts, then tick "Reply and send messages". Compare its drafts with what the old agent would have sent.
- Once you are happy, pause the old agent under Your agent. Customers are now answered by the new one.
- Ask the new agent to list scheduled messages and routines, and set up again any that belonged to the old agent and are still needed.
- After a week or so with no problems, remove the old agent. Its key and sign-in stop working.
Pausing before removing gives you an easy way back. If something about the new agent is not right, resume the old one while you sort it out.
Do not reconnect your accounts
It can be tempting to "start fresh" by disconnecting everything and connecting it again with the new agent. Do not. Reconnecting an account starts its warm-up again: for the first 2 days it only replies to people who wrote in, and new conversations build up again over four weeks. Your accounts are already connected to Spaces, and the new agent simply uses them.
Common switches, and what to watch
| From | To | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Claude | Bring custom instructions and project notes into the brief. Claude has Projects too, but keep facts in the brief. |
| Claude | Grok | On Business and Enterprise plans, an admin adds the Grok connector first. |
| A chat app | OpenClaw or Hermes | Write clearer rules, because nobody reads replies as they go. Start on drafts, and keep the machine on. |
| A chat app | Claude Code | Decide whether you want an always-on agent or a scheduled sweep, and keep replies as drafts at first. |
| An always-on agent | A chat app | Add a routine for after hours, because the chat app does not watch the inbox. |
| One agent | Two agents | You do not have to switch at all. Each agent has its own permissions, accounts and daily share. |
Running both for a few days
During the switch, both agents can be connected. Keep only one of them sending. A read-only new agent cannot clash with the old one, and the account's limits are shared between agents anyway, so two senders do not get more room. Once you move sending to the new agent, pause the old one the same day.
A worked example: a week from ChatGPT to Claude
Here is how a switch might run for a small bakery that has used ChatGPT for six months and wants to move to Claude. Names and details are examples.
| Day | What the owner does | Who answers customers |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Asks ChatGPT to compare its project notes with the Spaces brief and fill the gaps. | ChatGPT |
| Monday | Adds Spaces to Claude as a custom connector. Leaves Claude read-only under Your agent. | ChatGPT |
| Tuesday | Asks Claude to read back the brief and summarise the morning's chats. Both are right. | ChatGPT |
| Wednesday | Asks Claude to hold replies as drafts, ticks "Reply and send messages", and pauses ChatGPT. | Claude, as drafts the owner approves |
| Thursday | Asks Claude to list scheduled messages. Two reminders were set by ChatGPT, so Claude sets them up again. | Claude |
| Next Monday | No problems all week. Removes ChatGPT under Your agent. | Claude |
At no point did a customer wait longer than usual, and no account was reconnected.
Before you remove the old agent
- Everything from its notes is in the business brief.
- The new agent has answered real customers well for several days.
- Scheduled messages and routines it set up have been checked, and the ones you still need set up again.
- It has been paused, not removed, for at least a few days without anyone missing it.
- You know how to resume it if you change your mind before removing it.
Permissions to set for the new agent
A switch is a good moment to give the new agent only what it needs. Under Your agent, each agent has its own settings:
- What it may do: reading is always on. Add replying, posting, connecting accounts or ads only if it needs them.
- Accounts it can use: all of them, or only the ones it answers.
- Daily share: how much of each account's daily messages and actions it may use.
- Manage other agents: give it only to the agent you trust most, and never to one that runs unattended.
Common mistakes
- Removing the old agent before checking what it had scheduled.
- Leaving facts in the old agent's notes, so the new one quotes the brief's older version.
- Disconnecting and reconnecting accounts, which restarts their warm-up.
- Letting both agents send for a while "to compare".
- Giving the new agent every permission on day one.
Summing up
Switching AI agents with Spaces keeps your accounts, warm-up, business brief, routines, tags and hand-overs exactly where they are. Bring any notes kept inside the old agent into the brief, add the new agent read-only, move to drafts, then pause the old one and check what it had scheduled before you remove it. Never reconnect accounts to switch, and keep only one agent sending at a time.
Pricing
FAQ
Do I need to reconnect WhatsApp or Instagram when I change agent?
No. Your accounts are connected to Spaces, not to the agent. The new agent signs in to Spaces and uses them as they are.
Will I lose my business notes?
Not the ones in the Spaces business brief, which every agent reads. Notes kept inside the old agent, such as a Project or custom instructions, stay there, so bring them into the brief first.
Does switching restart the warm-up?
No, because nothing is reconnected. Reconnecting an account is what restarts warm-up, which is why you should not do it to switch.
What happens to messages the old agent scheduled?
They are tied to the agent that set them up, and wait while it is paused. Ask the new agent to list them, and set up again any you still need before removing the old agent.
Can the new agent read old conversations?
Yes. Conversation history lives in your connected accounts, and the new agent can read it through Spaces when it needs the background.
How do I remove the old agent?
Under Your agent in the dashboard, open it and choose Remove. Its key and sign-in stop working. You can also remove the Spaces connector or settings from the old agent itself, so it stops trying.
Can I switch back if I do not like the new one?
Yes, easily, if you paused the old agent rather than removing it. Resume it, and pause the new one.
Does switching change what I pay for Spaces?
No. Spaces costs the same whichever agent you use. Each AI agent has its own plans with its maker.