Choose an agent

Learn about the agents you can use to build your Bolt projects.

Bolt uses an AI agent to plan your project, write code, and troubleshoot as you build. Bolt offers two agents, Standard and Max, powered by large language models.

You choose the agent that matches your work, and Bolt handles model selection behind the scenes. As new models become available, Bolt can update how agents perform without changing your workflow.

To learn more about the technology behind Bolt’s agents, see Introduction to LLMs.

Agents

Choose the agent that’s best suited to what you’re building.

Only Standard is available on the free plan. To use Max, upgrade to a paid plan.

Standard

Balanced for everyday building.

Standard is fast and token-efficient, which makes it a good default for most development work. It performs best when the task is well defined.

Best for:

• Small or medium-scale applications
• UI updates
• General development
• Clear, well-defined tasks

Max

Maximum reasoning for complex tasks.

Max thinks more about each step, which makes a difference when the task involves working through large codebases with complex dependencies or solving problems without an obvious solution. Max is also more responsive to detailed prompts: if you describe a specific problem and ask it to think carefully, it uses deeper reasoning in that area.

For tasks where Standard already performs well, Max may not show a noticeable difference.

Best for:

• Large-scale applications
• Complex or interconnected features
• Refactoring existing code
• Open-ended tasks

The best way to find what works for your projects is to experiment. Try both agents on the kinds of tasks you do most and see which one gives you the results you want.

Switch agents

You can switch agents in two places: from the Bolt homepage when starting a build, or inside a project while working. For each project, Bolt remembers your selection and automatically uses the same agent the next time you open the project.

If you want all new projects to use a specific agent, you can set a default agent in your personal settings. Bolt then automatically selects that agent when you start a new project.

Switch agents on the homepage

From the Bolt homepage, use the drop-down selector at the bottom of the chatbox to choose your agent.

Switch agents in a project

To switch agents while working inside a project:

1. In the bottom-left corner of the chatbox, click the current agent name.
2. Select the agent you want to use.

Hover over an agent’s name to see more details about it.

Use claude.md files

Bolt supports importing claude.md files directly into projects. When a claude.md file is present, it’s detected and used automatically, with no additional setup required.

To upload a file:

1. Open your project.
2. Click the plus icon in the chatbox.
3. Click Attach file, and choose your file.

Using a claude.md file is especially helpful for users who rely on Project Knowledge settings. Instead of adding content manually through the UI, you manage project context in Markdown files. This makes it easier to include links, organize information across multiple files, and maintain project knowledge in a more flexible and scalable way.

The claude.md file acts as the entry point for agent instructions. While it can reference other files, such as text or additional Markdown files, the primary instructions must live in claude.md itself. The file name is required and can’t be changed. Agents only look for instructions starting from claude.md, then follow any links or references you include from there.

How Bolt handles context

Bolt agents support large context windows. However, to keep performance smooth, Bolt limits the active history to recent messages. This helps reduce token usage and keeps building responsive.

If a detail from earlier becomes important again, briefly restate it to bring it back into context. For any ongoing context or instructions that are important, add them to either your Project Knowledge, Account Knowledge, or, if applicable, Teams Knowledge.

Projects using v1 Agent (legacy)

As of April 13, 2026, you can no longer select v1 Agent (legacy) when starting a new project. The v1 agent will be retired on August 3, 2026, and any remaining projects that use it will be automatically switched to the default Bolt agent.

If you have existing projects that still use the v1 agent, they continue to work for now. You can still edit, build, and publish as usual until August 3, 2026.

However, the v1 agent doesn’t support several features available with Bolt agents, including Plan Mode and the ability to create Bolt Databases. It also tends to produce less complete results and require more rework.

To get the best results from Bolt, you can manually switch your projects to a Bolt agent. Switching agents clears your project’s chat history, so save anything you want to keep before transferring, and add any ongoing instructions to Project Knowledge afterward.

For step-by-step instructions and more details about the transition, see Switch your v1 projects to a Bolt agent.