Getting your first Scout agent running takes less than five minutes if you start from a template, or about fifteen if you prefer to build from scratch with full control over every setting. Either way, by the end of this guide you’ll have an agent that can take a goal, reason through it, call tools, and deliver a result — without you writing a single line of logic.
Option 1: Start from a Template
The Agent Marketplace is the fastest path to a working agent. Templates ship with pre-written instructions, the right tools pre-selected, and a guided flow for connecting your accounts.
Open the Marketplace
Navigate to studio.scoutos.com/agents/marketplace. Browse the available templates — Meeting Prep, Competitor Intel, Deal Monitor, Seller Guidance, CRM Hygiene, Personal Agent — and click any card to preview what it does and which integrations it requires. Click Use Template
When you find one that fits, click Use Template. Scout creates the agent with all its pre-configured instructions, selects the right tools, and prompts you to authorize any integrations the template needs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Workspace, and so on).
Connect your accounts
Follow the guided setup to connect your tools. You can skip optional integrations and add them later from the Tools tab on your agent.
Chat with your agent
Click Chat on your new agent and try one of the suggested prompts. Your agent is ready to work.
Templates are fully customizable after install. You can edit the instructions, add or remove tools, and adjust every setting — the template is just a starting point.
Option 2: Build from Scratch
If your use case is specific to your team or you want full control from the start, build a custom agent at studio.scoutos.com/agents/new.
Name your agent
Choose a clear, descriptive name that tells your team exactly what this agent does.
- ✅ “Meeting Research Assistant”
- ✅ “Pipeline Risk Monitor”
- ❌ “Agent 1” or “Test”
Add a short description of its purpose — this also helps other agents know when to delegate to it. Write your instructions
Instructions are the system prompt that defines your agent’s role, communication style, and guardrails. Be specific about what it should and shouldn’t do.You are a sales research assistant for our team. Your role is to:
- Search the web for accurate, up-to-date information about prospects
- Check our internal knowledge base first for any company-specific context
- Provide clear, concise summaries with sources cited
- Ask a clarifying question when the request is ambiguous
- Maintain a professional but direct tone in all responses
Always indicate whether information came from a web search or our
knowledge base. Keep summaries to three to five bullet points unless
the user asks for more detail.
Add tools
Go to the Tools tab to give your agent capabilities. Native tools are available immediately — toggle them on to activate:
- Web Search — search the internet for current information
- Scout Knowledge Base Search — search documents in your workspace
- Code Execution — write and run JavaScript or TypeScript for deterministic compute
To connect additional integrations (Google Workspace, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, GitHub, and more), visit studio.scoutos.com/integrations, authorize your accounts, then return to the Tools tab to toggle them on for this agent.Start with two or three tools. You can always add more once you see how the agent behaves in practice.
Configure settings
Click the Settings tab to tune how your agent behaves.Model selection — The default Auto setting lets Scout route each request to the best model for the task complexity, powered by Not Diamond. This is the right choice for most agents. Pin a specific model (Claude Sonnet, GPT-4o, etc.) only when you need predictable costs or have a specific reason to lock behavior.Response style — Choose from Precise (focused, reliable answers — best for data tasks), Balanced (recommended for everyday use), Creative (expressive responses for writing and ideation), or Experimental (open-ended, freeform).Max steps — Each tool call counts as one step. Set this based on task complexity:
- 5–10 steps for simple lookups and quick responses
- 15–20 steps for research tasks with multiple searches
- 25+ steps for complex workflows involving multiple tools
Conversation starters — Add two or three example prompts to help your team understand what this agent can do.Visibility — Set to Team so your whole workspace can access the agent, or keep it Private while you’re still testing. Save and test
Click Save, then click New Chat to test your agent. Try these prompts to verify the right tools are being used:"What is [your company]?" — should use the knowledge base
"What's the latest news about AI agents?" — should use web search
"Summarize our docs on onboarding and find related web resources" — should use both
Schedule Your Agent
Once your agent is working well manually, you can set it to run automatically — no workflow required.
- Open your agent and go to the Triggers tab
- Click Add Schedule
- Choose a frequency: daily, weekly, or a custom cron expression
- Define the task the agent should run and any inputs it needs
- Save and enable the schedule
For example, your pipeline monitor can check for at-risk deals every morning at 8 a.m. and post a summary to Slack — all without any manual trigger.
See Agent Scheduling for cron syntax, examples, and how to monitor scheduled runs.
Access Your Agent via SDK
In addition to Scout Studio and chat, you can call any agent programmatically using the Python or TypeScript SDK. Authenticate with an API key from Settings → API Keys.
from scoutos import Scout
client = Scout(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
response = client.agents.interact(
agent_id="agent_abc123",
messages=[
{
"role": "user",
"content": "Research Acme Corp and summarize recent news."
}
]
)
print(response.content)
agent_abc123 with the agent ID shown in Scout Studio under your agent’s settings. See the API Reference for the full list of parameters, including streaming responses and async interactions.
Embed Your Agent as a Copilot
You can also deploy your agent as a chat widget on any website or web app with a single script tag:
<script src="https://cdn.scoutos.com/copilot.js" defer></script>
<scout-copilot copilot-id="your-copilot-id"></scout-copilot>
copilot-id. See Copilot for configuration options, appearance settings, and the public deployment checklist.
Common Questions
My agent isn’t using the right tool.
Make the instruction more explicit: “Always check the knowledge base before searching the web” or “Use the CRM tool whenever the user mentions a specific company or deal.”
Responses are too long or too short.
Add a length preference to your instructions: “Provide a three-to-five bullet summary unless the user asks for more detail.”
Which model should I choose?
Start with Auto. It routes each request to the right model based on complexity. Pin a specific model only if you need cost predictability or have found that a particular model works best for your use case.
How do I share my agent with my team?
Set Visibility to “Team” in the Settings tab. Anyone in your workspace can then find and chat with it.
How do I see what my agent is doing?
Open the Logs tab on your agent. It shows every tool call, decision, and execution trace for every session. See Observability for a full walkthrough.
What’s the difference between a template and a custom agent?
Templates are pre-configured for specific use cases — install and start working immediately. Custom agents give you full control but require more setup. Both are fully editable after creation. 
