Zapier Agents are AI-powered assistants that can automate complex workflows by understanding natural language instructions and executing multi-step tasks. The following strategies will help you create more effective agents that save time, reduce errors, and scale efficiently across your organization.
Strategies to get the best out of an agent
These are the key aspects to building an effective agent:
- Ensure you create detailed instructions.
- Keep the agent focused and give it a limited scope.
- Use knowledge sources strategically.
- Test thoroughly before deploying.
Write detailed instructions
Well-written instructions help your agent understand exactly what you want it to do, reducing ambiguity and improving accuracy. When writing instructions:
- Be explicit about triggers: Clearly define when and how the agent should activate. Instead of "when someone emails," specify "when a new email arrives in the support inbox with 'urgent' in the subject line."
- Detail the actions: Break down complex tasks into specific steps. For example, "Create a task in Asana with the email subject as the title, set the due date to tomorrow, and assign it to the support team."
- Provide context: Include relevant background information that helps the agent make better decisions, such as "you'll receive information submitted by our Sales team that's the result of a client meeting".
Learn more about building an agent in Zapier Agents and how to prompt AI in Zapier products.
Provide your agent with a clear focus
Keeping your agents focused prevents performance issues and makes them easier to maintain. Agents work best when they have a clear, limited scope rather than trying to handle everything at once. To optimize performance:
- Limit the number of actions: Keep agents focused on 3-5 related actions rather than creating one agent that does everything.
- Use agent-to-agent calls: Break complex workflows into smaller, specialized agents that can work together. You can call an agent from another agent to create modular workflows.
- Build in steps: Start simple and add features gradually as needed.
Use knowledge sources strategically
Knowledge sources provide your agents with the context and information they need to make informed decisions. The strategic use of knowledge sources significantly enhances the accuracy and relevance of agents. When using knowledge sources:
- Keep information current: Keep your knowledge sources up to date with current processes and policies. Knowledge sources are regularly synced to your agent.
- Organize content logically: Structure information in a way that's easy for the agent to parse and understand.
- Include relevant examples: Provide sample scenarios and responses to guide agent behavior.
- Avoid information overload: Include only relevant information to prevent confusion.
Test thoroughly before deploying
Comprehensive testing prevents issues in production and ensures your agents work as expected across different scenarios. Testing helps you identify edge cases and refine agent behavior before it affects real workflows. Effective testing strategies include:
- Test with real data: Use actual examples from your workflows rather than sample data.
- Cover edge cases: Test unusual or unexpected inputs to see how the agent responds.
- Verify other apps: Ensure all connected apps and services work correctly with your agent.
- Monitor initial runs: Watch the first few executions closely to catch any issues early.
Improve your agent after deploying
Once your agent is running, monitor the results and ensure you and your team are collaborating effectively on agent development.
Monitor and maintain agents regularly
Regular monitoring ensures your agents continue to perform effectively as your business needs evolve. Ongoing maintenance helps you identify opportunities for improvement and prevents minor issues from escalating into major problems.
Establish a maintenance routine that includes:
- Performance tracking: Monitor success rates, execution times, and error patterns.
- Regular updates: Refresh knowledge sources and adjust instructions based on changing requirements.
- User feedback: Collect input from team members who interact with agent outputs.
- Optimization opportunities: Look for ways to improve efficiency and accuracy over time.
Plan your collaboration and sharing
Effective collaboration ensures your agents provide value across your organization and that knowledge is shared efficiently. Planning for collaboration from the start makes agents more valuable and easier to scale.
Collaboration strategies include:
- Document agent purposes: Clearly explain what each agent does and when to use it.
- Create templates: Develop reusable patterns that team members can adapt to meet their specific needs.
- Establish governance: Set guidelines for who can modify agents and how changes are approved.
- Share best practices: Regularly communicate successful patterns and lessons learned.
Explore Zapier's app directory
Zapier lets you connect thousands of apps to your agent. Visit the app directory to find apps that can help you automate your daily tasks. You can also find other apps by browsing app categories or the "Similar apps" section on an app-specific page.
Next steps
Start with these fundamentals and gradually refine your approach as you gain experience. Remember that great agents are built iteratively—begin with a solid foundation and improve over time.
Provide feedback and get help
Submit a feature request, provide feedback on existing features, or get help from the Zapier Agents team. You can also discuss Agents with other users on Zapier's Early Access Program Slack.