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Creating an Agent

Let's create your AI agent. This guide walks you through each step.

Before you start​

Make sure you have:

  • An active TAB account
  • Some content for training (FAQs, documents, or just information about your business)
  • A clear idea of what you want your agent to do

Step 1: Start creating​

  1. Click Agents in the sidebar
  2. Click Create New Agent
  3. You'll see a two-step wizard starting with the Agent specifications form

Step 2: Give your agent an identity​

Name​

This is just for you. Customers never see it.

Use something descriptive like:

  • "Store customer support"
  • "Sales Helper"
  • "Product Questions"

Public Name​

This is what customers see when they chat.

Good examples:

  • "Ted"
  • "Alex"
  • "Support Assistant"

Keep it short and friendly.

Step 3: Select a model​

This is the "brain" of your agent. TAB offers models from OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), and Mistral, organized into three tiers: Flagship, Premium, and Standard. Each tier uses different amounts of conversation credits per conversation.

TierCredits per ConversationBest For
Flagship7x Conv.Complex, high-stakes conversations
Premium3x Conv.Great all-rounder for most businesses
Standard1x Conv.Fast and budget-friendly for simple Q&A

For most users, the default choice works well. You can always change it later. See Agent Specifications for full details on models and tiers.

Your plan decides which tiers you can pick

Free and Lite include Standard models, Starter adds Premium, and Growth adds Flagship. Models outside your plan show a lock icon and cannot be selected.

Step 4: Choose a tone​

Pick how your agent should communicate:

Friendly

  • Casual and warm
  • Good for most consumer businesses
  • Example: "Hey there! How can I help?"

Formal

  • Professional and businesslike
  • Good for B2B, finance, healthcare
  • Example: "Good day. How may I assist you?"

Step 5: Set up lead data collection (optional)​

Choose what contact information your agent should try to capture during conversations:

  • All - Collect name, email, and phone number
  • Name - Customer's name
  • Email - Customer's email address
  • Phone Number - Customer's phone number

Select any combination that fits your needs.

Step 6: Choose the agent's role​

Select your agent's role from the Agent's Role dropdown:

  • Customer Support Agent - Answers questions, helps with problems
  • Sales/Lead Qualification Agent - Qualifies leads, discusses products
  • General Assistant - Handles a variety of tasks and general inquiries

Look for the Recommended badge next to the best option for your setup. Not sure? Start with "Customer Support Agent" - it works for most businesses.

When you select a role, the Instructions field auto-fills with a template tailored to that role.

Step 7: Write instructions​

The Instructions field auto-fills based on the role you selected. Review the template and customize it for your business.

Here's a simple template:

You are a helpful assistant for [Your Company Name].

Your job is to:
- Answer questions about our products and services
- Help customers with their problems
- Be friendly and patient

If you don't know something, say so honestly and offer to connect the customer with our team.

Replace [Your Company Name] with your actual company name.

tip

Click the Maximize button to expand the editor to full screen for easier writing. Use the Reset button to revert to the role template.

Step 8: Set restricted topics (optional)​

If there are things your agent shouldn't discuss, list them in the Restricted Topics field.

Examples:

  • "competitor pricing"
  • "legal advice"
  • "specific salary information"

You can also write a custom response in the Restricted Topics' Reply field for when customers ask about these topics.

Click Next when you're done with agent specifications.

Step 9: Add knowledge​

You're now on step 2 of the wizard: Data Sources. Give your agent information to work with using the tabs at the top.

Add FAQs​

The easiest way to train your agent:

  1. Click the FAQ tab
  2. Type a question customers commonly ask
  3. Type the answer
  4. Click Add
  5. Repeat for 5-10 common questions

Upload documents (optional)​

If you have existing files:

  1. Click the File tab
  2. Select your document (PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, CSV, PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, MD, TXT)
  3. Files must be under 10MB

Add text content (optional)​

  1. Click the Text tab
  2. Enter a title and paste your content
  3. Click Add

Step 10: Train your agent​

  1. Click Train (the button becomes active after adding at least one data source)
  2. You'll see a confirmation with a count of your data sources by type
  3. Click Yes to confirm
  4. Wait for training to complete (usually a few minutes)

When you see "Agent ready!", you'll be automatically redirected to your agent's page.

Step 11: Test your agent​

Before going live, make sure it works:

  1. On your agent's page, the Playground panel is on the right side
  2. Ask it some test questions
  3. Check if the answers are accurate

If something's wrong:

  • Go to the Data Sources tab and update your content
  • Go to the Agent Specifications tab and adjust your instructions
  • Click Re-Train

What's next?​

Your agent is created. Now:

Common questions​

How long does it take to create an agent? About 10-15 minutes for a basic agent. Add more time if you're adding lots of content.

Can I change things after creating? Yes. You can update settings, add more content, and retrain anytime.

What if training fails? Check that you haven't exceeded your data storage limit and that your files are in supported formats. See Training Errors for more help.