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Quick Goose Tips

Goose works on your behalf​

Goose is an AI agent, which means you can prompt Goose to perform tasks for you like opening applications, running shell commands, automating workflows, writing code, browsing the web, and more.

Prompt Goose using natural language​

You don't need fancy language or special syntax to prompt Goose. Talk with Goose like you would talk to a friend. You can even use slang or say please and thank you; Goose will understand.

Extend Goose's capabilities to any application​

Goose's capabilities are extensible. As an MCP client, Goose can connect to your apps and services through extensions, allowing it to work across your entire workflow.

Choose how much control Goose has​

You can customize how much supervision Goose needs. Choose between full autonomy, requiring approval before actions, or simply chatting without any actions.

Choose the right LLM​

Your experience with Goose is shaped by your choice of LLM, as it handles all the planning while Goose manages the execution. When choosing an LLM, consider its tool support, specific capabilities, and associated costs.

Keep sessions short​

LLMs have context windows, which are limits on how much conversation history they can retain. Once exceeded, they may forget earlier parts of the conversation. Monitor your token usage and start new sessions as needed.

Turn off unnecessary extensions or tool​

Turning on too many extensions can degrade performance. Enable only essential extensions and tools to improve tool selection accuracy, save context window space, and stay within provider tool limits.

Teach Goose your preferences​

Help Goose remember how you like to work by using .goosehints for permanent project preferences and the Memory extension for things you want Goose to dynamically recall later. Both can help save valuable context window space while keeping your preferences available.

Protect sensitive files​

Goose is often eager to make changes. You can stop it from changing specific files by creating a .gooseignore file. In this file, you can list all the file paths you want it to avoid.

Version Control​

Commit your code changes early and often. This allows you to rollback any unexpected changes.

Control which extensions Goose can use​

Administrators can use an allowlist to restrict Goose to approved extensions only. This helps prevent risky installs from unknown MCP servers.

Set up starter templates​

You can turn a successful session into a reusable "recipe" to share with others or use again later—no need to start from scratch.

Embrace an experimental mindset​

You don’t need to get it right the first time. Iterating on prompts and tools is part of the workflow.

Keep Goose updated​

Regularly update Goose to benefit from the latest features, bug fixes, and performance improvements.