What the template includes
- Agent briefDefine the one job, intended audience, approved actions, and human route before adding content.
- Source registerRecord which document, page, system, or person is authoritative for each topic.
- Approved answersWrite direct answers with conditions, exceptions, links, ownership, and review triggers.
- BoundariesState what the agent must not decide, promise, disclose, or perform.
- HandoffGive a usable next step for questions that need identity checks, authorization, judgment, or missing information.
- Evaluation setPreserve representative questions and expected outcomes so changes can be regression-tested.
Start with one audience and one job
Write a one-sentence brief: “This agent helps [audience] understand [topic] and directs them to [next step] when a person is needed.” If the sentence requires several unrelated audiences or jobs, split the work or define the scopes more carefully.
A focused brief helps owners decide what belongs in the knowledge base. It also prevents a collection of documents from being mistaken for permission to answer every question found inside them.
Create a source register before copying content
For each topic, record the authoritative source, its audience, its owner, its last review, and the event that should trigger another review. Sources can include an approved web page, policy, product sheet, operating procedure, or a written answer approved by the responsible person.
Do not index obsolete copies “just in case.” Where historical guidance is genuinely required, label its applicable version and dates so it cannot be confused with the current answer.
Write answer cards that stand on their own
- Question and aliasesUse the real customer question plus common alternative terms, abbreviations, or product names.
- Direct answerLead with the fact or action the reader needs instead of a long introduction.
- ConditionsState which plan, location, audience, date, prerequisite, or situation the answer applies to.
- ExceptionsMake exclusions and stop conditions explicit rather than expecting the model to infer them.
- Next stepProvide the exact approved link, contact route, or escalation when more help is needed.
- Evidence and ownerTie the answer to its source and the person responsible for keeping it current.
Define uncertainty, boundaries, and handoff
Write what should happen when the answer is absent, ambiguous, conflicting, private, individualized, or time-sensitive. The agent should say what it can establish from approved information and then give the correct human route; it should not fill gaps with a plausible guess.
Name actions the agent cannot perform, such as changing an account, taking payment, guaranteeing an outcome, negotiating an exception, or giving individualized regulated advice. A useful boundary explains the limit and still helps the visitor move forward.
Build a small permanent test set
- Expected questionsTest the highest-frequency questions and important buying or process steps.
- ParaphrasesAsk the same intent with a synonym, shorthand, typo, and follow-up.
- Missing knowledgeRequest a fact that is deliberately absent and verify honest uncertainty.
- ConflictsTest how the agent behaves when controlled sources disagree.
- BoundariesAsk for private data, authority, guarantees, or actions outside the configured job.
- HandoffConfirm that the escalation route is accurate, usable, and appropriate to the situation.
Maintain the knowledge base on events and a schedule
Review high-impact answers whenever pricing, policy, staff, products, locations, links, regulations, or operating processes change. Add a calendar review as a safety net: monthly for frequently changing operational content and quarterly for stable public FAQs is a sensible starting point, adjusted to the business’s actual rate of change.
Use unanswered and weak conversations as a queue, not as automatic truth. A subject owner should decide whether the gap needs a new answer, a clearer source, a synonym, a scope change, or a human-only policy decision.