Overview
Subagents give you the same row-by-row AI power as SAI commands — research, web scraping, content generation, image analysis, and more — but instead of writing formula syntax into a cell, you just tell the SheetXAI chatbot what you want in plain English.
If SAI formulas are how you do this yourself, subagents are how you ask the AI to do it for you.
SAI vs. Subagents
| SAI Formulas | Subagents | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you work | Directly in a spreadsheet cell (#SAI !URL research #A) | In the SheetXAI chatbot, in plain English |
| How you specify it | Operation prefix + instruction + cell references | Just describe the outcome you want |
| Best for | Precise control, auditable formulas, very large batch runs | Not wanting to learn SAI syntax, faster setup |
Example Prompts
Instead of building a formula like:
#SAI !ARRAY !URL research this company and write a personalized outreach email #A
you can just tell the chatbot:
"Add subagents in column D that will research the lead and write a cold message."
or:
"Use subagents to categorize these support tickets by issue type."
The AI sets up the per-row processing for you — no formula syntax required.
What Subagents Can Do
Anything SAI can do, described conversationally:
- Research a company or lead from a URL or name
- Scrape and summarize a webpage
- Analyze an image
- Write personalized content (emails, descriptions, messages) per row
- Categorize or classify data per row
Batch Behavior
If you tell the agent to run on all rows, it runs on your existing rows and keeps auto-running on new rows added afterward — you don't have to re-prompt every time the sheet grows.
You can also be specific about scope. For example, you can tell it:
- To only run on the existing rows (not new ones added later)
- To only run on rows that are missing a particular field (e.g. "only run on rows where column D is empty")
- To only run on rows that match some other filter you describe
As with all SheetXAI operations today, the sheet generally needs to stay open for processing to continue.
When To Use SAI Formulas Instead
Reach for SAI formulas directly (rather than subagents) when you want:
- Precise control over which operation prefix runs (
!PDF,!URL,!IMAGE, etc.) - A formula you can see, audit, or copy/reuse in the sheet itself
- To combine multiple specific cell references in a custom way