# Single Agents: One AI Agent for a Whole Chat or Call

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.

> Source: https://www.robylon.ai/docs/ai-agents/single-agents
> Section: AI agents

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?

<Steps>
  <Step title="Start a new agent">
    In **AI Agents**, click **Create AI Agent**.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Choose the channel group">
    Choose **Chat**, then **Single Agent**. Or choose **Voice**, which always creates a single agent.
  </Step>
  <Step title="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**.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Configure and publish">
    Write the system prompt, add agent instructions and tools, then publish.
  </Step>
</Steps>

For a voice agent, continue with [creating a voice agent](https://www.robylon.ai/docs/voice/create-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](https://www.robylon.ai/docs/data-and-integrations/api-tools-functions). |
| 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](#what-are-rich-responses). |
| LLM Configuration | The model, temperature, max tokens and thinking tokens. See [custom agents](https://www.robylon.ai/docs/ai-agents/custom-ai-agents#what-do-the-llm-configuration-settings-do). |

## 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](https://www.robylon.ai/docs/chatbot/product-faqs). 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.

1. Open the agent and click **Edit**.
2. Click the agent's name at the top of the panel to open **Edit Agent**.
3. Turn on **Has KB Access** and click **Save**.
4. 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](https://www.robylon.ai/docs/ai-agents/triage-agent) (the master agent) routes each conversation to [sub-agents](https://www.robylon.ai/docs/ai-agents/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](https://www.robylon.ai/docs/ai-agents/custom-ai-agents).