Mindset docsBuildersBuildChoose what to build
Choose what to build
Decides which part of an agent's work goes in its prompt, a script, a function, a widget or another agent.
Most agents need only a prompt and a few operations. Two tests decide the rest:
- Is there a step the agent must not be able to skip? If nothing has to wait for an answer or be blocked until a condition holds, it's prompt text and operations. If something does, that stretch, and only that stretch, becomes a script.
- A script orchestrates. A function iterates. "For each row, call something" is a function. "Do A, wait for a person, then B or C" is a script.
Your coding agent reads the choosing-what-to-build topic before any build it hasn't done before. It holds the full set of worked comparisons.
Ask your coding agent#
Read choosing-what-to-build, then tell me what you'd build for the invoice exceptions agent and what you'd leave in its prompt, before you build anything.Common choices#
| The request | Build | Not |
|---|---|---|
| Answer questions about the returns policy and look up an order | A prompt and one read operation | A script, or a function wrapping the read |
| Book a demo only after the visitor's company size is known | A script whose first phase holds no calendar tool | "Ask about size first" in the prompt |
| Rank six accounts by health score | A function that reads each account and sorts | The agent calling the read six times and sorting itself |
| Show open orders by country as a bar chart | The agent's built-in chart, from a function's counts | A custom chart widget |
| Use the same booking confirmation card in two agents | One widget, given to both agents | A widget per agent |
| Approve a booking over £400 by the manager, by link | A script that prices the stay, then asks the manager | The rule in the prompt, or the model working out the total |
| Keep contract text out of the general assistant's reach | A legal agent holding the contract operation, which the general assistant hands work to | A rule in the general assistant's prompt |
| Post yesterday's order count to Slack every night | A schedule on an agent that holds the read and the Slack post | A script, which has no current date |
Done when#
Your coding agent can say, for each part of the agent's work, where it goes and why.