Octopus
What Are Agent Areas
An Agent Area is a named logical boundary within a tenant that scopes agents, knowledge, tools, and user access. Areas enable a single Octopus installation to serve multiple independent business domains — HR, Finance, IT — without cross-contamination of data or capabilities.
Area as a Boundary
Think of an Area as a "department" within your Octopus deployment:
- Agents belong to an area — they can only use knowledge and tools within that area
- Knowledge (vector collections) is scoped per agent, and agents are scoped per area
- Users are assigned to areas — they see only the agents available in their areas
- Administrators can manage specific areas without access to others
Area Lifecycle
1
Create Area
Admin creates an area via the agents-app or API. Assigns a name, description, and initial configuration.
2
Create Agents
One or more agents created within the area. Each agent has its own persona, tools, and knowledge base.
3
Index Knowledge
Documents uploaded and indexed into each agent's vector collection.
4
Assign Tools
Tool groups assigned to agents within the area. Area-specific tools are not visible to other areas.
5
Grant User Access
User groups mapped to the area. Users with access see the area's agents in the chat-app.
Area Data Model
CREATE TABLE Octopus_Areas (
AreaId UNIQUEIDENTIFIER NOT NULL DEFAULT NEWSEQUENTIALID(),
TenantId UNIQUEIDENTIFIER NOT NULL,
Name NVARCHAR(200) NOT NULL,
Description NVARCHAR(MAX) NULL,
IsActive BIT NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
CreatedAt DATETIME2 NOT NULL DEFAULT SYSUTCDATETIME(),
CONSTRAINT PK_Areas PRIMARY KEY (AreaId)
);
CREATE TABLE Octopus_AreaAgents (
AreaId UNIQUEIDENTIFIER NOT NULL,
AgentId UNIQUEIDENTIFIER NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT PK_AreaAgents PRIMARY KEY (AreaId, AgentId)
);
CREATE TABLE Octopus_AreaUsers (
AreaId UNIQUEIDENTIFIER NOT NULL,
UserGroupId UNIQUEIDENTIFIER NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT PK_AreaUsers PRIMARY KEY (AreaId, UserGroupId)
);Single Area vs. Multi-Area
| Scenario | Recommended Setup |
|---|---|
| Small deployment, one team | Single area — simpler management |
| Department-specific agents, users must not cross-read | Multiple areas with strict user group assignment |
| Public chatbot + internal assistant | Two areas: Public (no auth) and Internal (auth required) |
| Enterprise with 10+ departments | One area per department; area admins for each |