Agents

An agent has three parts: a brief that says what it is for, tools that say what it may do, and a scope that says what it may see.

The brief

Prose, in your own words. Specific beats clever: name the audience, the shape of a good answer, and the things it must refuse.

Tools

Tools are the actions available. Read tools fetch context; write tools change something outside the platform. Start read only and add write tools once the traces are boring.

Boundaries

A boundary stops a run rather than trusting the model to decline. Spend limits, approval steps, and tool allowlists are all boundaries.

Determinism

Agents are not deterministic, so treat them as you would a person with good judgement: give them the right information, limit the blast radius, and review the record. Evaluate a change covers how to tell one version is better than another.