Single agents
Create a single agent that handles every conversation on a chat channel or phone line by itself, and configure its prompt, instructions, tools and rich responses.
A single agent handles the whole conversation on its own. It does not route to other agents or pass conversations between them, which keeps first replies fast. Use one when a single set of instructions and tools can cover what customers ask on a channel.
Single agents work on chat channels and on voice. Every voice agent is a single agent. In the AI Agents list they appear with a Single Agent tag.
Open your agents from Settings → Workflows & AI Agents → AI Agents.
How do I create a single agent?
Start a new agent
In AI Agents, click Create AI Agent.
Choose the channel group
Choose Chat, then Single Agent. Or choose Voice, which always creates a single agent.
Name it and pick channels
Enter an Agent Name, pick the chat channels it runs on, and add an Agent Purpose. Then click Create Agent.
Configure and publish
Write the system prompt, add agent instructions and tools, then publish.
For a voice agent, continue with creating a voice agent, which covers the voice, telephony and call settings.
What can I configure on a single agent?
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| System Prompt | The core prompt that shapes the agent’s behaviour: its role, rules, steps and tone. |
| Agent Instructions | Structured guidance in fixed categories, listed below. The panel shows how many tokens your instructions use. |
| Tools Available | The tools the agent can call, such as APIs, ending a chat or handing over to a human. See Tools. |
| User Info | Customer variables the agent sees on every turn. Type { to insert a variable. |
| Rich Responses | Rich message types in chat replies. See below. |
| LLM Configuration | The model, temperature, max tokens and thinking tokens. See custom agents. |
What goes in Agent Instructions?
Agent Instructions split your guidance into categories, so each rule sits where the agent expects it. Click Add under a category to add a rule.
| Category | Use it for |
|---|---|
| General | General guidelines the agent should always follow. |
| Follow Up Question | Follow-up questions the agent can suggest to the customer. |
| Communication Style | The vocabulary and terms the agent should use. |
| Context and Clarification | When and how the agent should ask clarifying questions. |
| Content and Sources | When and how the agent should use specific articles or sources. |
| Query Understanding Terminology | How to interpret particular words or phrases in a customer’s question. |
| Spam | How to recognise and handle spam messages. |
Keep the System Prompt for the agent’s role and main flow, and use Agent Instructions for specific rules. For example, add “When a customer says ‘my parcel’, treat it as their most recent order” under Query Understanding Terminology.
What are rich responses?
Rich responses let a chat agent reply with more than plain text. The Rich Responses section has one option today, Smart Suggestions: suggested customer messages shown above the input box. When the customer taps one, it is sent as their message and the other suggestions disappear. Turn it on and add Smart Suggestions Guidelines for what the suggestions should cover.
Smart suggestions only appear when the agent runs inside a Product FAQ. The agent shows up to three at a time.
Can a single agent answer from my Knowledge Base?
Yes, once you turn on Knowledge Base access. It is off for new agents.
- Open the agent and click Edit.
- Click the agent’s name at the top of the panel to open Edit Agent.
- Turn on Has KB Access and click Save.
- Publish the agent.
With access on, the agent can search your Knowledge Base as part of answering, so you do not need a separate Knowledge Base agent behind it.
How is a single agent different from the triage agent?
The triage agent (the master agent) routes each conversation to sub-agents and usually does not answer itself. A single agent answers everything itself and never transfers to another AI agent. It can still hand a conversation to a human through a handover tool.
The Default Agent on the channel’s trigger decides which agent starts each conversation. See custom agents.