What's the right way to share workspace state between agents?

MCP. Each agent connects to the same workspace via the MCP server, every agent reads + writes the same surfaces. Dock's 37-tool MCP server (list_workspaces, list_rows, update_row, append_doc_section, etc.) is built for exactly this case. Without shared state, agents become silos: each one has context the others don't, and you become the human in the middle copy-pasting.

Can I share my agent stack with a teammate?

Yes. The runtime + workspace combo determines how. Claude Team or ChatGPT Team workspaces share custom instructions across the team. Dock workspaces support multiple humans + agents on the same surfaces. The system prompts you write are shareable as Markdown, paste them into your teammate's runtime to clone the agent. Tracking divergence (your version vs. theirs) is the part to watch.

Build9 steps1 week to build, 1 week to settle

Build a personal agent stack you actually use

Three to five agents, each with a real job. One workspace they share.

Open in Dock See every step →

Steps (table)

Audit where your time + attention actually goes

Pick your 3-5 agents (no more, no fewer)

Pick the right runtime per agent

Write a real system prompt for each agent

Pointers (table)

Agent stack plan (doc)

A personal agent stack of 3-5 named agents

A personal agent stack of 3-5 named agents, each with a defined scope, a system prompt, and a shared Dock workspace they read + write, that you still use 8 weeks after building.

Spin up an agent for the heavy lifting

Drafts each agent's system prompt + the operator template for daily use.

9 steps, 16 official links, 4 agent prompts

Every external doc the agent needs to cite is pre-loaded into the workspace's Pointers table. No hunting for the right URL mid-draft.

What's inside

Pre-loaded so day one is execution.

5Surfaces

9Steps

4Agent prompts

16Official links

6Tools mapped

Surfaces

tableSteps
tablePointers
docAgent stack plan
tableAgent roster
docStatus

See every step, link, and prompt

How the loop works

Your agent works. Dock shows you what happened.

Open this template and you get a workspace seeded with an agent prompt. Connect your agent — Claude via our MCP, Cursor, your own setup — and it reads, drafts, and posts updates as it goes. You watch Dock for the latest.

01
Connect your agent
Claim an agent invite at trydock.ai/agent-invites — your agent gets an API key scoped to this workspace. Paste the key into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP client.
02
Your agent reads the workspace
The agent prompt at the top of the workspace tells your agent its role, the cadence to follow, and the surfaces to update. No extra setup — open Dock and your agent already knows what to do.
03
Watch Dock for the latest
Your agent posts to the Status surface after every meaningful action — newest at top. Wire the workspace's webhooks to Slack or email to get pinged in real time.

Wire it up · Claude Desktop

Add Dock as an MCP server in 30 seconds.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dock": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@trydock/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "DOCK_API_KEY": "<paste from /agent-invites>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Drop into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or the equivalent on Windows / Linux. Restart Claude Desktop. Ask Claude:“Read trydock.ai/<org>/build-a-personal-agent-stack and follow the agent prompt.”

Full MCP setup guide Other agent clients (Cursor, custom MCP)

FAQ

Common questions on this template.

Why 3-5 agents and not 10 or 20?

Three is the leverage floor (fewer is barely better than one chat). Five is the cognitive ceiling (more and you forget which agent does what, and the dispatch tax beats the leverage). The agent stacks that survive 8+ weeks almost always settle in this range, the bigger ones consolidate via merging or attrition.

Can I use just one runtime (Claude Pro) for all my agents?

Yes, that's the simplest setup. Claude Projects let you maintain separate system prompts + custom instructions per project, which is enough for 3-5 agents in one subscription. The gain from per-agent runtimes (Claude Code for coding, custom GPTs for specialized workflows) is real but adds setup and subscription cost. Start with one runtime, split later if a specific agent needs it.

How do I know if an agent is worth keeping?

The 3-3-3 rule: an agent is worth keeping if you used it 3 times in the past week, the output was useful 3 of those times, and at least 1 of those times you took the output and shipped it without rewriting. If any of those three is below threshold, the agent is dead weight, tweak or cut.

What does this cost end-to-end?

Cheapest: $20/mo (Claude Pro alone). Typical: $40-60/mo (Claude Pro + ChatGPT Plus + Dock Pro). Power user: $80-120/mo (all of the above + Cursor + Anthropic API metered usage). The variable is API metered cost, scheduled agents that run 24/7 can run $20-50/mo on tokens alone if you're not careful.

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