Build your first Agent
Your first agent is built from two things: the tools it has access to and the instructions you give it. Get both right, and you've got an agent that's genuinely useful. Let's explore what that means.
What Makes an Agent Actually Work?
Here's the thing about agents: they're not magic. They're a pretty simple idea.
You give an agent:
- Tools – Integrations, flows, or data sources it can access
- Instructions – Guidelines for how to use those tools and what to prioritize
The agent then decides which tools to use, in what order, to answer questions or complete tasks.
That's it. But the devil is in the details.
Tools: What Your Agent Can Access
An agent is only as useful as the information it can access. Without the right tools, your agent is just guessing.
Think about what your support team needs to handle discount requests. They need to see the ticket. They need customer history. They need your company's policy. An agent works the same way—it needs access to the information sources required to make good decisions.
When you add tools to your agent, you're defining the scope of what it can do. You're saying:
"Here's what you have access to. Here's what you can work with."
Instructions: Guiding Agent Behavior
Your agent won't know what to prioritize unless you tell it. That's where instructions come in.
Instructions are how you communicate what matters. They shape how your agent thinks, what it checks, and what it values.
Without instructions, your agent has no framework. With vague instructions, it'll wander. With the right instructions, it becomes genuinely smart about solving problems.
We'll dive deep into how to write great instructions in the next lesson. For now, just understand that instructions and tools work together—one defines what's possible, the other defines what actually happens.
The Interplay: Tools + Instructions
Here's where agents get interesting. Your agent's effectiveness comes from the combination of what it has access to and what you tell it to prioritize.
Think of it this way: tools define the boundaries of what's possible. Instructions define what actually happens within those boundaries.
If you give your agent access to the right tools but unclear instructions, it'll have the information it needs but won't know how to use it. It'll wander. It'll make inconsistent decisions.
On the flip side, the clearest, most well-written instructions won't help if your agent doesn't have access to the data it needs. Instructions can't force a tool into existence.
The agents that perform well are the ones where tools and instructions work in harmony. Your agent has access to what it needs. Your instructions guide it toward the right decisions. Neither one overpowers the other.
Tools define what's possible.
Instructions define what actually gets done.
When both are aligned with your actual problem, you've got an agent that works.
Agents Are Never "Done"
Here's the honest truth: building great agents is part art, part science.
Your first version won't be perfect. And that's not a bug—it's a feature.
As your team uses the agent, you'll notice things:
- "It keeps asking me to confirm the ticket when I've already told it which one" → Refine the instructions
- "It can't find customer data for some people" → The flow needs tweaking, or you need a different tool
- "It keeps ignoring my policy" → The instructions weren't clear enough
Each of these is feedback. Each iteration makes the agent better.
The best agents aren't the ones that work perfectly on day one. They're the ones your team keeps using and improving. Think of your agent as a living system that learns from real usage.
What's Next?
Right now, your agent only exists in Gumloop. That means someone has to log in, find the agent, and chat with it.
Your team isn't going to do that.
In the next lesson, we'll bring this agent into Slack so your team can interact with it naturally—right where they're already communicating. That's when agents become truly powerful. Let's do that. 🚀
