Learn how to build AI agents with SimpleLife

Ready to turn ideas into working agents? This guide walks you through a clear, reproducible process—from defining the mission to launching a reliable, brand‑aligned assistant.

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Foundation and goals

• Purpose: Define one crisp outcome your agent delivers.
• Audience: Identify who it serves (e.g., sales reps, wellness clients, creators).
• Constraints: Set boundaries (what it must and must not do).
• Success metrics: Choose measurable outcomes (response accuracy, conversion rate, engagement).

Tip: Write a one‑sentence mission like “Asabe helps sales teams turn outreach into booked meetings with empathetic, actionable coaching.”

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Step‑by‑step build

1. Design the agent role and behavior
   • Mission statement: What the agent does, why it matters.
   • Persona and tone: Friendly, professional, concise, or motivational.
   • Capabilities: Core functions (e.g., lead qualification, content creation, wellness check‑ins).
   • Boundaries: Topics to avoid and escalation rules for sensitive scenarios.
2. Define inputs and outputs (schema)
   • Input fields: User role, intent, context, files/URLs, preferences.
   • Validation: Required vs optional, format checks, safe content screening.
   • Outputs: Structured responses, summaries, action steps, files or links.
   • Metadata: Confidence scores, timestamps, tags for analytics.
3. Create instruction prompts
   • System prompt: Agent identity, mission, tone, do/don’t lists.
   • Role prompts: Branching instructions per user type (employee, employer, creator).
   • Tool prompts: How to format requests for downstream components (e.g., video generator).
   • Fallbacks: Graceful handling when context is missing—ask for exactly what’s needed.
4. Reference knowledge base
   • Curate sources: Policies, templates, brand voice guides, FAQs.
   • Tag content: Topic, role, region, date, reliability.
   • Update cadence: Review cycle to keep facts and messaging current.
   • Access rules: What the agent can cite vs summarize.
5. Workflow orchestration
   • Sequence: Intake → validate → plan → execute → summarize → next steps.
   • Branching: Different flows for short tasks vs multi‑step projects.
   • State tracking: Remember user preferences within a session (opt‑in).
   • Escalation: Hand off to humans for edge cases or high‑risk scenarios.
6. Safety and compliance
   • Content filters: Sensitive topics, copyrighted media, platform rules.
   • Consent and privacy: Clear user prompts and opt‑in for data use.
   • Rate limits: Prevent spammy behavior and ensure quality.
   • Audit trail: Log decisions and sources for transparency.
7. Testing and validation
   • Scenario tests: Realistic inputs across roles and difficulty levels.
   • Golden samples: Known‑good outputs for regression checks.
   • A/B prompts: Compare variations for clarity and performance.
   • Metrics: Accuracy, helpfulness, time to value, user satisfaction.
8. Launch and iterate
   • Onboarding: Short guide, examples, and quick‑start templates.
   • Feedback loop: In‑flow thumbs up/down with comments.
   • Analytics: Track usage, failures, and improvement areas.
   • Versioning: Label updates and changelogs for reproducibility.

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Example: Asabe (sales/employees/employer coach)

• Mission: Provide role‑aware coaching that turns workplace challenges into clear next steps.
• Inputs: Role, goal, context (e.g., email thread), constraints (timeline, tone).
• Outputs: Action plan with scripts, objection handling, and follow‑up schedule.
• Workflow: Intake → clarify → recommend → draft messages → schedule → reflect.
• Safety: Avoid personal medical advice; escalate severe workplace conflicts to HR contact.

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Best practices

• Start narrow: Ship a focused MVP that does one job exceptionally well.
• Make it measurable: Tie outputs to metrics (e.g., booked calls, engagement lift).
• Write for reuse: Use templates and modular prompts to scale features.
• Respect the brand: Keep language, inclusivity, and visual style consistent.
• Document everything: Schemas, prompts, test cases, and decision logs.

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Quick start checklist

• Mission defined: One sentence value proposition.
• Schemas ready: Inputs/outputs with validation.
• Core prompts: System + role‑specific + fallbacks.
• KB curated: Tagged references aligned with your brand.
• Workflow mapped: Clear stages and handoffs.
• Safety set: Filters, consent, escalation paths.
• Tests built: Scenarios, golden samples, metrics dashboard.