The four presets are defined as four directories in the repo, one preset.yml each. Quoted verbatim, not summarised:
| order | id | Name | Official description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | standard | Standard | A feature-complete coding agent supporting file editing, shell, file and web search, Skills, plans, goals, subagents, and workflows. |
| 2 | ptc | PTC | A feature-complete coding agent, but without workflow tools by default; the other tools are presented through the PTC SDK so the model composes multi-step operations in one TypeScript program. |
| 3 | minimal | Minimal | A two-tool coding agent offering only a persistent bash and str_replace_editor. |
| 4 | cordis | Creator | For authoring custom agent presets: every capability of standard, plus runtime inspection, plugin experiments, and preset authoring guidance. |
Choosing
- Standard by default: the widest tool set and the easiest place to find others who hit the same wall.
- PTC suits work where multi-step operations can be written as one program; it collapses five round trips into one (next page). It requires a code runtime.
- Minimal is for 'one shell and one editor'. The smallest surface and the most control — but no Skills, no plans, no subagents, and no context compaction at all.
- Creator is for people writing custom presets, with runtime inspection and authoring guidance. Daily work does not need it.
The trap: assuming minimal just means fewer features. It also turns off context compaction (agent.cordis.yml says Context compaction is absent), so a long session hits the ceiling. Fewer features is survivable; missing compaction is not.
Same task, two presets
Run it yourself before deciding. One task, once in standard and once in PTC, recording only two numbers: tool calls and model round trips. Skip wall-clock time; the network dominates it.
# standard In standard mode: read a.md, b.md, c.md and merge them into summary.md # PTC Do the same task in PTC mode
If PTC shows markedly fewer tool calls, the task suits programmatic composition. If it is the same, the extra layer buys nothing.