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Building with IQ

The builder turns a plain description into a working agent. You say what the agent should do, IQ asks a few questions to fill the gaps, then writes the instructions, the greeting, the tools and sensible defaults for everything else. The result is an ordinary draft, so anything IQ chose can be changed afterwards in the full editor.

The builder has four steps:

  1. Describe Your Agent
  2. Fine-tune
  3. Test It Out for a Frontline agent, or Try It Out for a Background agent
  4. Publish

Before You Start​

  • Role: Admin or Organisation Admin. See Roles and Permissions.
  • The right environment. The agent is created in the environment selected in the sidebar. Build and test in a Sandbox or UAT environment first if your organisation has one. See Environments.
  • Details of the systems the agent will use. If the agent needs to look things up or make changes in your systems, have each system's web address and sign-in details ready. These can also be added later. See Tools and Knowledge.

Opening the Builder​

  1. Open Agents.
  2. Select the New agent tile, or New agent in the table view.

In an environment with no agents yet, select Frontline agent or Background agent on the welcome screen. The builder opens with that type already chosen.

Step 1: Describe Your Agent​

IQ opens with "Hi! What do you need this agent to do?"

  1. Choose the type with the pills above the text box: Answer calls for a Frontline agent, or Work in the background for a Background agent. The type cannot be changed once IQ starts building.
  2. Describe the agent in the text box. A suggestion chip under the box fills it with a starting point, such as "A receptionist that answers calls and books appointments" or "Summarise support tickets and flag urgent cases", which you can then edit.
  3. Press Enter, or select Next.

IQ shows a short checklist under "What IQ is doing" while it builds, then moves on to the next step by itself. The draft is saved from this point, so it can be picked up later from Agents.

Writing a Good Description​

A good description names the business, the two or three things callers or systems most often need, and what should happen with everything else. IQ asks about anything missing, but a fuller description means fewer questions and a closer first draft.

For example, for a Frontline agent:

Answer calls for ACME Vets, a two-clinic veterinary practice. Book, move and cancel appointments using our booking system. Tell callers our opening hours and which clinic is closer to them. If a pet is injured or unwell right now, hand the call to a person straight away.

For a Background agent, say where the work comes from, what it should produce, and what to do when the input does not fit:

Read new support tickets from ACME's helpdesk. Write a two-line summary, tag each ticket as billing, technical or account, and flag anything mentioning a refund or legal action as urgent. If a ticket is empty or not in English, tag it for a person to review.

Setting It Up by Hand Instead​

Below the text box, Set it up by hand opens a blank editor for the chosen type instead of the builder. See The Agent Editor.

Changing the Description Later​

Returning to Describe Your Agent after IQ has built shows the description as it was sent, marked Locked. To change it, select Edit description, then Edit in "Edit your description?". Editing rebuilds the agent when you select Next, which clears IQ's answers and any changes made since. The current agent stays as it is until then. Keep the current agent cancels the edit.

Step 2: Fine-tune​

This step has up to three parts, in order. Only the parts the agent needs appear.

Answering IQ's Questions​

IQ asks one question at a time, with a counter such as "1 of 3". Each question offers a few answers.

  • Select an answer, or press its number key.
  • Select Something else to answer in your own words, then Send.

Earlier answers are listed above the current question. Select one to change it while the questions are still open.

Connecting Your Systems​

If the agent needs to reach one of your systems, IQ says so, for example "It needs access to one of your systems. Connect it now, or skip it for later." Each system is listed with a status of To set up, Set up or Skipped.

  • Select a system to connect it. A short form walks through what it does, where it lives, how it signs in, and an optional test request. See Tools and Knowledge.
  • Select Skip for now to leave it, or Skip all to skip every one. A skipped system stays on the agent, ready to set up later.

Every system has to be set up or skipped before moving on. An agent can be tested with a system skipped, but it cannot be published until each tool has an address to call.

Reviewing What IQ Chose​

Once IQ has its answers, it says "That's all I needed. I've filled in the rest, so change anything that looks off." The review lists your answers, a short IQ assumed note for anything it filled in without asking, and the options worth checking:

  • Voice (Frontline). Each voice card shows its accent and style, such as Australian, calm and relaxed. Play a voice to hear it say the agent's greeting.
  • Longest call (Frontline). The longest a call can run before it ends: 3 min, 5 min or 10 min.
  • Recording & knowledge (Frontline). Record keeps a recording of each call. Knowledge is the agent's knowledge setting, on by default. See Tools and Knowledge.
  • Model (Background). The language model the agent runs on. IQ marks the option it suggests as Recommended.
  • Tools. Each tool IQ added, with a Not set up marker on any that still needs an address. Select a tool to edit it.

A line such as "12 more settings using defaults" counts the settings IQ left on their defaults. See them shows them on the agent card beside the step.

Next stays unavailable until IQ has finished writing and nothing needs fixing. Hovering over it says what is outstanding, for example "Answer IQ's question first."

Step 3: Test It Out or Try It Out​

This step runs the draft in a test before anyone outside the team reaches it. Test sessions are recorded as Evaluate sessions, so they are kept apart from real traffic.

  • Frontline: choose IQ calls it, where IQ plays a caller from a scenario you pick, or You call it, to talk to the agent through your microphone.
  • Background: choose IQ tries it, where IQ writes test scenarios and runs them, or You try it, to send the agent a sample message or data yourself.

After a test, IQ reviews it and lists anything worth fixing. Apply fix changes the draft straight away, so the next test uses the fix. The test modes are covered in full in Playground.

Testing is optional. Select Next to continue.

Step 4: Publish​

The last step is a checklist headed Before It Is Published:

  • Instructions Written. The agent needs instructions, and a Frontline agent also needs a greeting.
  • Tested or Not Tested. Publishing without a test is allowed. Test it first goes back to the test step.
  • Phone Number (Optional) (Frontline). Pick the number callers will ring, or publish without one and add it later. See Phone Numbers and Deployment.
  • Record calls (Frontline). Whether each call is recorded.

Anything that must be fixed first is listed with a Fix button, which opens the place to fix it, and Ask IQ, which asks IQ to fix it for you.

To publish, press and hold Hold to Publish until it completes. Holding, rather than clicking, avoids publishing by accident.

What Happens Next​

The agent is live as soon as the publish completes. What it says depends on the type and whether a number was chosen:

  • A Frontline agent with a number "is live and answering calls". Call the number to try it.
  • A Frontline agent without a number "is published and ready to go". Your own telephony can reach it by its Agent ID, which is shown with a copy button. Give It a Phone Number adds one now. See the developer docs for where the agent ID is used.
  • A Background agent "is published and getting to work". It runs when one of your systems, a flow or another agent calls it. See the developer docs.
  • Published, Number Not Connected means the agent is published, but its number could not be pointed at it, so calls do not reach it yet. Retry from the same screen, or see Phone Numbers and Deployment.

From here, Open followed by the agent's name goes to the agent page, and Build another agent starts again. Calls or runs appear in Sessions as they happen, and later changes take effect only when they are published.

Leaving the Builder​

Closing the builder part-way asks "Leave the Builder?":

  • If IQ has started building, the draft is already saved and Leave keeps it. A message confirms "Saved as a draft. You can continue it from Agents."
  • If the description has not been sent yet, it is not saved.
  • If the latest changes did not save, Save and Leave tries again before you go.

Keep Building returns to the builder. If saving fails on the way out, "Your draft didn't save" offers Retry, or Leave Anyway to go without the latest changes.

To pick a draft up again, select its card in Agents, or its Continue button.