Build your first agent

An agent is a worker with one clear job. This guide walks you through building one in about ten minutes.

1. Describe the job

Click New agent and write what it should do in plain language. Good instructions answer three questions:

• What should it do, and how often?
• What does good look like? For example, “a score from 1 to 10 with one line explaining why”.
• When should it ask for help? For example, “if the company can’t be found, flag it for a person”.

Two short paragraphs are usually enough. You can always refine them later.

2. Connect the apps it needs

Under Tools, grant only the apps and actions this agent needs. An agent that scores leads needs to read your CRM, not delete records from it.

3. Choose what needs approval

Mark actions that are hard to undo, such as sending email or issuing refunds, as approval required. They’ll wait in the approvals inbox until a person says yes.

4. Test it on real work

Click Run now. The run timeline shows every step: what the agent read, what it decided, and why. Review the output with the person who usually does the job.

5. Put it on a schedule

When you’re happy with the results, add a trigger:

Trigger	Example
Schedule	Every weekday at 8:00
App event	When a new lead is created in HubSpot
API	From your own systems with a single request

Tip: keep approvals on for the first two weeks. Once a step has been approved without changes many times, you can let it run on its own.