# Duplicate an AI Agent > How to create a copy of an existing AI Agent from the AI Agent switcher, what the copy keeps and what it starts without, how a large Knowledge Base is copied in the background, and why the Duplicate button may be missing. You can create a new AI Agent as a copy of one you already have, instead of configuring it from scratch. The copy gets the same settings and AI Actions and, if you choose, the whole Knowledge Base, so it is ready to answer the moment it opens. ## Duplicate an AI Agent 1. In the left sidebar, open the **AI Agent switcher**, the dropdown that lists your AI Agents. 2. Hover over the AI Agent you want to copy and click **Duplicate this AI Agent** next to its name. On a touch screen the button is always visible. 3. In the **Duplicate AI Agent** dialog, enter the **Name of the new AI Agent**. It is prefilled with the original's name followed by "(copy)" and can be up to 100 characters long. 4. Leave **Also copy the Knowledge Base** checked to copy every article, or clear it to start the copy with an empty Knowledge Base. 5. Click **Duplicate**. Most copies are ready within seconds, and Quickchat opens the new AI Agent for you. A very large Knowledge Base is copied in the background instead; see [Copying a large Knowledge Base](#large-knowledge-base). ## What the copy keeps A copy is a snapshot taken once. Later changes to either AI Agent do not affect the other. - **Identity and behaviour**: the Main Prompt, Guidelines, Personality, Profession, Creativity, Reply Length, Languages and AI Model, together with the avatar and the full widget and Chat Page appearance, including a custom theme. - **Human handoff, lead generation and privacy settings**: working hours, handoff messages, notification emails, Smart Data Gathering campaigns and privacy policy details. - **Actions**: every AI Action, including API Actions with their headers and static credentials, and remote MCP servers. An MCP connection that was authorized through OAuth is copied but needs to be **authorized again** on the copy, because such grants are tied to a single AI Agent. - **Insights settings**: alerts and metadata extraction. - **Knowledge Base**, when **Also copy the Knowledge Base** is checked: every article with its tags, the FAQs, and the AI Agent's descriptions. The copy answers from them immediately, without a retrain. ## What the copy starts without - **Conversations and Insights.** The copy begins with an empty Inbox and no history. - **Channel connections.** The copy is not connected to any channel. Connect your website, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord or any other channel on the copy separately. The per-channel preferences, such as replying in threads, are kept and apply once that channel is connected. - **Automatic refresh.** Copied URL articles are not refreshed automatically, and a synced website is not carried over. Turn on [auto-refresh](/ai-agent/knowledge-base/#auto-refresh) on the copy if you need it. - **Testing datasets.** Datasets and runs from [Testing](/conversations/testing/) are not copied. - **Team, API key and billing.** The copy belongs to the same account as the original, so the account's Account Owner and Administrators can open it, and so can you. Teammates invited only to the original are not invited to the copy. The copy has its own API key and its own subscription. ## Plans and limits - The copy is created on the **Free plan**. Everything copied is kept, including Knowledge Base articles beyond the Free plan's limit of 50, but you cannot add new articles to the copy until you upgrade it, and features that need a paid plan are switched off on it until then. See [Pricing and plans](/pricing-and-plans/). - A Knowledge Base with more than 2,000 articles, or with an exceptionally large amount of content, cannot be copied automatically. The dialog tells you when that is the case. Duplicate the AI Agent without the Knowledge Base, or [contact us](https://quickchat.ai/contact) to have the copy made for you.
## Copying a large Knowledge Base When a Knowledge Base is too large to copy in one go, Quickchat copies it in the background. 1. After you click **Duplicate**, the dialog closes and a notification confirms that the copy has started: **Copying [name of the original]. We'll let you know when it's ready.** You can keep working, switch AI Agents or reload the page meanwhile. 2. The copy stays hidden until every article has been copied, so it does not appear in the AI Agent switcher yet. 3. When it lands, usually within a few minutes, a **Your copy is ready.** notification appears with an **Open** button, and the copy shows up in the AI Agent switcher. If you close the browser in the meantime, the copy still completes and is waiting in the AI Agent switcher the next time you open the dashboard. If the copy cannot be completed, you see **Could not duplicate this AI Agent. Please try again.** and nothing is left behind: no half-copied AI Agent appears, so you can simply try again. ## Why the Duplicate button may be missing The **Duplicate this AI Agent** button is shown only to the **Account Owner** and **Administrators** of that AI Agent, because a copy carries the whole configuration, including the credentials of its AI Actions. Editors and other roles do not see it. If you need a copy, ask an Administrator on your account to make it for you. See [Team and roles](/team-and-roles/).