The Anaconda Assistant is a built-in AI agent that helps you manage conda environments, create and configure AI agents, build MCP tool servers, and connect AI providers through conversation. Describe what you need, and the assistant handles the configuration for you.
Actions that manage conda environments require Anaconda Desktop to be running.
Accessing the Anaconda Assistant
Start a conversation with the assistant from the 
Home page using the Ask the Assistant chat input. Sending a message opens the assistant in a side panel. The home page also includes quick-action cards for common setup tasks. Each card has two buttons: a direct action button that takes you straight to the relevant creation workflow, and an Ask the Assistant button that pre-populates the chat input with a prompt for that task.
You can also open the assistant side panel from anywhere in Agent Studio by clicking 
in the upper-right corner. The assistant is aware of the page you are currently viewing and can offer contextual help.
Managing conda environments
Describe what you need to the assistant in the chat input. The assistant can create environments with specific packages and versions, or you can describe your project and let it determine the right configuration.
Before installing or removing packages, the assistant previews the changes and asks for confirmation.
The assistant can:
- Create, clone, rename, and remove conda environments
- Search for packages across conda channels, and install, update, or remove them
- Add, remove, reorder, and validate conda channels
- Create environments from Quick Start templates
- Export environments as YAML for sharing
Example prompts:
- “Create an environment called ml-project with Python 3.11, scikit-learn, and pandas”
- “What packages are installed in my data-analysis environment?”
- “Update numpy to the latest version in my ml-project environment”
Managing agents
Click Create on the Create an Agent card to open the agent creation workflow directly, or click Ask the Assistant to describe what you need in the chat. Detailed requests that describe your agent’s purpose and intended behavior can result in the assistant creating a fully configured agent, including its system prompt, AI provider, and tools. If your use case calls for it, the assistant can create multiple agents configured to work together.
Before writing custom Python tools, the assistant checks whether an existing MCP server already provides the functionality you need.
The assistant can:
- Create agents and configure their system prompt, model, temperature, and response format
- Write custom Python tools using the
@tool decorator
- Browse the plugin marketplace, install plugins, and attach them to agents
- Connect MCP servers to agents
- Start, stop, and check the status of agent runtimes
- Invoke other agents by name
Example prompts:
- “Create a code review agent that checks Python files for security issues and suggests fixes”
- “Add the Atlassian plugin to my project-manager agent”
- “Write a tool for my agent that queries our PostgreSQL database and returns results as a table”
Click Create on the Create a Tool Server card to open the tool server creation workflow directly, or click Ask the Assistant to describe what you need in the chat. The assistant can scaffold MCP tool server projects that expose Python tools to any MCP-compatible client. Tool servers let you share a set of tools across multiple agents or make them available to external applications like Claude Desktop or Cursor.
The assistant can:
- Create new tool server projects
- Write Python
@tool functions for the server
- Sync tool files with the server configuration
- Connect a tool server to any agent as an MCP server
Example prompts:
- “Create a tool server called weather-tools with a function that fetches the current forecast for a given city”
- “Add a tool to my data-tools server that converts CSV files to JSON”
- “Connect my weather-tools server to my travel-planner agent”
For more information about tool servers, see Tool servers.
Connecting an AI provider
Click Connect on the Connect an AI Provider card to go directly to the AI Providers configuration page, or click Ask the Assistant to get help choosing and setting up a provider.
The assistant can:
- Recommend a provider based on your use case
- Walk you through entering an API key or completing an OAuth flow
- Help you confirm that a provider is configured correctly
Example prompts:
- “Help me connect to OpenAI”
- “Which AI provider should I use for a coding agent?”
- “Is my Anthropic API key configured correctly?”
For more information about AI providers, see AI providers. 
