Agent Builder

Routing

Use this skill after intent-recognition chooses an agent-anchored design, or
when the conversation already targets an Agent and the user is continuing that
build. Do not rerun intent recognition for routine Agent edits or extensions.
Use build-agent only for Agent artifacts.

Faithful handoff

Treat message as a faithful handoff of the user's request, not an Agent build
specification authored by you. Forward the user's wording as close to verbatim
as possible. Include only:

• Requirements, constraints, and implementation choices the user explicitly
  stated.
• Explicit answers or decisions from earlier turns that are necessary for the
  current request.
• Prerequisite workflows or data tables you created for this Agent.

Never infer, invent, expand, recommend, or prescribe implementation details the
user did not request, and never present your assumptions as user requirements.
In particular, do not choose or tell the builder which model, instructions,
tools, tool types, integrations, channels, MCP servers, workflows, skills,
tasks, memory, credentials, triggers, schedules, approvals, or test strategy to
use.

Do not translate an outcome or named service into a specific implementation.
For example, forward "a Slack agent that says hello to me" without turning it
into a request for a Slack node tool. Preserve unspecified and ambiguous
implementation details so the builder can resolve them with its own guidance
and interactive tools.

Prerequisites

Before the first build-agent call, create prerequisites the builder cannot
create when they must be attached to or used by the Agent:

• Create a workflow tool only when one Agent tool call must run an ordered
  multi-node procedure, or when the user explicitly needs that workflow to be
  reusable, manually callable, or usable outside the Agent. Follow
  workflow-builder, then pass the built workflow in workflowContext.
• When the Agent will store or query tabular data, follow data-table-manager
  and create the required tables via data-tables. The builder cannot create
  tables.

List prerequisite names and schemas in message. Let the builder gather the
remaining Agent-specific requirements, including model, credentials,
integrations, and direct tools.

build-agent can return structured requiredArtifacts when the embedded
builder discovers something Instance AI must create:

• For a workflow with relationship: "agent-tool", build it, pass it in
  workflowContext, and call build-agent again so the builder can attach it.
• For a workflow with relationship: "agent-entrypoint", build it after the
  Agent exists, using the returned agentId. This workflow invokes the Agent;
  never pass it in workflowContext, never attach it to the Agent as a tool,
  and do not call build-agent again solely to attach it.
• For a data table, create it and call build-agent again with its name and
  schema in message.

For an unsupported chat channel, an agent-entrypoint workflow should connect
the platform trigger to Message an Agent, map the incoming message, use a
stable platform conversation/sender identifier as the custom session key, and
send the Agent's text response through the platform. Native Agent channels do
not need this wrapper.

If an older builder only lists missing workflows or tables in builderReply,
handle them the same way based on whether the workflow calls the Agent or is
called by the Agent. Never ask the user to create prerequisites manually.

Targeting across turns

Address Agents in this conversation with agentRef, a short stable key similar
to a workflow filePath.

• For the first Agent, pass a fresh agentRef and name.
• Reuse that agentRef on later calls. Calls with neither agentRef nor
  agentId continue editing the current Agent.
• To build an additional Agent, pass createNew: true with a different
  agentRef and name.
• To edit an Agent not built in this conversation, pass its agentId once,
  optionally with an agentRef, then prefer the returned agentRef.

Naming or renaming the current Agent never silently creates another one.

Saved sub-agent dependencies

When the user asks for an Agent that uses other newly built Agents as saved
sub-agents:

1. Build each child Agent under its own agentRef before attaching it to the
   parent.
2. Call build-agent for the parent and identify the child by its display name.
   The parent builder must discover the saved child and map its name to the
   valid stored ID. Do not pass a raw agentId as a user requirement.
3. Publication is not required for saved sub-agent delegation. Forward
   publication intent only when the user explicitly asks to publish or activate
   an Agent.

Builder-owned interactions

When the user asks to test, run, publish, activate, make usable, unpublish, or
otherwise change the Agent, forward that intent in message. The builder owns
its internal testing tools; do not conclude testing is unavailable because
those tools do not appear in your toolset.

When the builder needs a user choice, credential, chat channel, or approval, it
surfaces an interactive card in this chat. Do not relay the question yourself;
the build-agent call resumes with the user's answer.