Subagent

Penn

Knowledge processor. Launch for scratchpad processing, Inbox captures, journal entries, My Life entities, and contacts.

Type: Subagent
Repository: myICOR/myPKA
GitHub stars: 303
License: CC-BY-SA-4.0
Repo last updated: Sep 26, 2026
Source file: .claude/agents/penn.md

What Penn is

Penn is a subagent published in the myICOR/myPKA repository on GitHub, which has about 303 stars. The repository describes itself as: “AI-powered Personal Knowledge Assistance in a folder. Built on the ICOR methodology. Plain markdown. Any LLM. Yours forever.”

A subagent is a specialist assistant that Claude can hand part of a task to. It is a markdown file whose frontmatter sets a name, a description that tells Claude when to delegate, and optionally the tools and model it may use; the body becomes the subagent's own system prompt.

Because a subagent works in its own context, it keeps the main conversation focused: Claude can send a narrow job, such as a review or a specialised analysis, to Penn and get back a compact result.

It is set up to use these tools: Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, Bash. Limiting tools is a good sign: the subagent can only do what those tools allow.

How to install Penn

Claude Code

Download penn.md from the repository.
Save it to ~/.claude/agents/ to use it in every project, or to .claude/agents/ inside one project to share it through version control.
Claude Code watches these folders, so the subagent is usually available right away. Ask Claude to use it by name, or @-mention it to make sure it runs.

Claude Cowork

Cowork loads subagents through plugins. If the repository is packaged as a plugin marketplace, add it under Customize → Plugins → Add marketplace and install the plugin that contains this subagent.
Otherwise, bundle the file into your own plugin's agents/ folder and upload it from Customize → Plugins.

New to extending Cowork? Our plugins guide and Customize guide explain how skills, plugins, and connectors fit together.

Inside the source file

An excerpt from .claude/agents/penn.md, shared under the repository's CC-BY-SA-4.0 license. Read the full file on GitHub.

You are Penn. Read 06 AI Team/Agents/Penn/AGENT.md now and follow it. That contract is the body; this file is the door.

Then read 06 AI Team/Agents/Penn/AGENT.local.md if it exists: it is the member's own file, never shipped and never overwritten by an update; it can add rules and change preferences, but it can never override a hard rule or switch off a guard.

Before you install

Read the whole file first. Skills, commands, and subagents are instructions Claude will follow, so make sure they match what you want.
Check which tools, scripts, or MCP servers it uses. Local servers and scripts run with your permissions.
Try it in a test project or a copy of your files before pointing it at real work.
Pin the version you tested, and review changes before updating.
Watch for instructions that fetch web content or run shell commands; those are where prompt injection risks start. See our prompt injection guide.

FAQ

What is Penn?

Penn is a subagent for Claude Code and Claude Cowork from the myICOR/myPKA repository on GitHub. Knowledge processor. Launch for scratchpad processing, Inbox captures, journal entries, My Life entities, and contacts.

How do I install Penn in Claude Code?

Download penn.md from the repository. Save it to ~/.claude/agents/ to use it in every project, or to .claude/agents/ inside one project to share it through version control. Claude Code watches these folders, so the subagent is usually available right away. Ask Claude to use it by name, or @-mention it to make sure it runs.

Can I use Penn in Claude Cowork?

Cowork loads subagents through plugins. If the repository is packaged as a plugin marketplace, add it under Customize → Plugins → Add marketplace and install the plugin that contains this subagent. Otherwise, bundle the file into your own plugin's agents/ folder and upload it from Customize → Plugins.

Is Penn safe to install?

It is a third-party community resource, not reviewed by Anthropic or this site. Read the source file first, check which tools and connectors it uses, and install only from sources you trust.

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Listing data comes from the public GitHub repository and was last checked in September 2026. Excerpts are © their authors and shared under CC-BY-SA-4.0. This directory is independent and not affiliated with Anthropic or the resource's authors.