AI Agents

Getting Started

Your First Agent

Let’s build a practical agent that can help with daily tasks. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a working agent that can search the web and answer questions about Scout.

Step 1: Create Your Agent

Navigate to studio.scoutos.com/agents/new to start building.

Name Your Agent

Choose a clear, descriptive name:

  • ✅ “Research Assistant”
  • ✅ “Customer Support Agent”
  • ❌ “Agent 1” or “Test”

Add a Description

Write a brief description of what your agent does. This helps you and your team understand its purpose:

Helps research topics, find information across the web, and answer questions 
using our internal knowledge base.

Write Instructions (System Prompt)

This is where you define your agent’s personality and behavior. Be specific about:

  • Its role and expertise
  • How it should communicate
  • What it should and shouldn’t do

Example Instructions:

You are a helpful research assistant for our team. Your role is to:
- Find accurate, up-to-date information from web searches
- Check our internal knowledge base first for company-specific information
- Provide clear, concise summaries with sources
- Ask clarifying questions when requests are ambiguous
- Maintain a professional but friendly tone
Always cite your sources and indicate whether information comes from 
web search or our knowledge base.

Step 2: Add Tools

Click on the Tools tab to give your agent capabilities.

Native Tools

These are available immediately:

  • Web Search: Enables your agent to search the internet for current information
  • Scout Knowledge Base Search: Searches your internal documents and knowledge base

Toggle these on to start with basic capabilities.

Add More Tools

To expand your agent’s abilities:

  1. Go to studio.scoutos.com/integrations

  2. Connect your accounts:

    • Google Workspace for Calendar, Drive, Gmail access
    • Slack for message reading and sending
    • GitHub for code repository access
    • And many more…

  3. Once connected, return to your agent’s Tools tab

  4. Your connected integrations will now appear as available tools

  5. Toggle on the ones you want this agent to use

Create Custom Tools

Need your agent to do something specific? You can create custom tools using Scout workflows:

  • Build any logic in the visual workflow builder
  • Enable the workflow as a tool by toggling the option in the top right of the workflow builder screen
  • Your agent can now use it like any other tool

For example, create tools for checking inventory, calculating metrics, or any multi-step process specific to your business.

Pro tip: Start with just 2-3 tools. You can always add more later as you understand what your agent needs.

Step 3: Configure Settings

Click the Settings tab to fine-tune your agent’s behavior.

Select LLM Model

Choose the language model that powers your agent. Each model has different strengths - select based on your specific needs for speed, accuracy, or task complexity.

Set Response Style

Choose how your agent communicates:

  • Precise: Delivers focused, reliable answers with minimal variation (best for data/research tasks)
  • Balanced: A helpful mix of structure and creativity for everyday tasks (recommended for most use cases)
  • Creative: Generates expressive, open-ended responses for writing and ideation
  • Experimental: Pushes boundaries with unexpected, freeform outputs

Configure Max Steps

Set the maximum number of steps your agent will take to fulfill a request. Each tool use counts as one step.

What are steps?

  • A step is any action your agent takes: searching the web, reading a document, calling an API, etc.
  • For example: Web search (step 1) → Scrape webpage (step 2) → Summarize content (step 3) = 3 steps

Recommended settings:

  • 5-10 steps: Good for simple tasks and quick responses
  • 15-20 steps: Better for research tasks that might require multiple searches and document reads
  • 25+ steps: For complex workflows involving multiple tools and data sources

Important: Higher step limits allow more thorough work but may increase response time and costs. Start with 10-15 steps and adjust based on your agent’s typical tasks.

Add Conversation Starters

Help users understand what your agent can do with example prompts:

- "What's the latest news about AI agents?"
- "Search our knowledge base for onboarding procedures"
- "Find competitor pricing information"
- "Summarize recent customer feedback"

Set Visibility

Control who can access your agent:

  • Private: Only you can use it
  • Team: Anyone in your workspace

Step 4: Test Your Agent

Your agent is now ready! Click Save to create it.

Starting a Test Chat

  1. After saving, look for the New Chat button in the top right
  2. Click it to start a chat session with your agent
  3. Try one of your conversation starters
  4. Test different types of requests to see how your agent responds

Test Prompts to Try

"What is ScoutOS?" (Should use knowledge base)
"What's the weather in San Francisco?" (Should use web search)
"Find information about AI agents in our docs and on the web" (Should use both)

What to Look For

  • Is the agent using the right tools for each request?
  • Are the responses in the style you configured?
  • Does it follow your instructions properly?

If something isn’t working as expected, go back to your instructions or settings and refine them.

Step 5: Use Your Agent

Once you’re happy with your agent’s performance, use it where your team works:

Scout Dashboard

Chat with your agent directly in the Scout Studio dashboard. This is the primary way to interact with your agent.

  • Click on your agent from the agents list
  • Start a new chat session
  • Share the agent with your team members

Scout Copilot (Beta)

Embed an agent chat widget directly in your app or website.
Currently in beta - email info@scoutos.com for access

Slack Integration (Beta)

Add your agent to Slack channels for team collaboration.
Currently in beta - email info@scoutos.com for access

API Access (Beta)

Use your agent programmatically in your applications.
Currently in beta - email info@scoutos.com for access

What’s Next?

Make Your Agent Smarter

  • Add more specific instructions based on real usage
  • Connect additional tools as needs arise
  • Create custom tools using Scout workflows

Build Specialized Agents

Now that you understand the basics, create agents for specific tasks:

  • Sales Agent: CRM + Email + Calendar
  • Support Agent: Help desk + Knowledge base + Slack
  • Data Agent: Database + Analytics + Reporting tools

Common Questions

My agent isn’t using the right tool Adjust your instructions to be more specific about when to use each tool. For example: “Always check the knowledge base first before searching the web.”

The responses are too long/short Add length preferences to your instructions: “Provide concise summaries of 2-3 sentences unless asked for more detail.”

Can I edit my agent after creating it? Yes! All settings can be changed anytime. Just remember to save your changes.

How do I see what my agent is doing? Check the Logs tab to see tool usage, decision-making, and full execution traces.