Give agents a task. Keep ownership of the outcome.
AI agent development turns a goal into a sequence of decisions and actions. 0OP designs agents for work that needs interpretation, tool use, and follow-through, with a clear definition of done.
Explore the scope ↓0op.dev/agentsWhere the work gets stuck
An assistant can suggest what to do while leaving every action to you. An agent can carry some of that work through, but it needs more than a long prompt. It needs the right context, limited access, a way to check progress, and a stopping point. A useful first task might be investigating an incomplete customer record and preparing a correction for review.
A concrete example
Example scope: investigate an incomplete B2B enquiry and prepare a sales brief. The agent can choose approved reading tools while changes require separate authority.
Input
An enquiry, selected CRM and product tools, a definition of a complete brief, and explicit stopping conditions.
Output
An evidence-linked brief, a record of tool actions, and a focused list of unresolved questions.
- Check what is missing and choose the approved source that could answer each question.
- Read relevant records, compare the evidence, and stop if access or identity is uncertain.
- Produce the brief and verify required fields before handing unresolved questions to a person.
When it fits
Useful when cases need different investigation paths. A fixed sequence is preferable when the same steps always suffice.
What you could receive
- Bounded agent and tool permissions
- Task evaluations and action trace
- Human handoff and stopping behavior
What we need to start
- Representative and difficult enquiries
- Approved tools and access boundaries
- Acceptance criteria and a review owner
Capture a starting scope with the workflow templates. For the design choice, read agents vs automation.
Workflows built around Agents
Task-specific agents
Define one job with known inputs and an observable result. Give the agent instructions for choosing its next step when information is incomplete, rather than asking it to manage the whole business.
Tool access with clear permissions
Connect approved sources and actions. Reading a record, drafting an update, and saving it are separate capabilities, so access can match the responsibility you actually want to delegate.
Checks and human handoffs
Record the actions taken and test the result against agreed criteria. Route ambiguous cases to a person with the supporting context and a clear explanation of what remains unresolved.
How the project comes together
Choose a bounded goal
Collect typical tasks and difficult examples. Identify the decisions that need interpretation and the steps that a fixed rule can handle.
Test the full task
Evaluate tool selection, output quality, cost, and failure recovery. Include missing permissions, unavailable services, and misleading input in the test cases.
Expand from observed results
Start with a small scope and limited authority. Review completed work and exceptions before allowing additional actions or longer unattended runs.
Keep the boundaries explicit
Autonomy is a scoped permission, not a promise of perfect judgment. Spending limits, action limits, and approval points are agreed before release. The agent should stop when it cannot establish the next safe step.
Questions about Agents
How is this different from an AI workflow?
An AI workflow may follow a fixed sequence that includes a model. An agent has some responsibility for choosing the next action. Use that flexibility only where it helps with the task.
Can an agent work without supervision?
Some bounded tasks can run without reviewing every step. Consequential actions and uncertain cases need a separate decision about authority, monitoring, and escalation.
Do I need several agents?
Not necessarily. Start with one well-defined process. Multiple agents are useful only when separate responsibilities improve the result enough to justify additional coordination.
What should stop being manual?
Bring a recurring task, an example input, and the outcome you need. We can use that to define a practical first scope.
Discuss it with Oğuz ↗0OP · Zero Operation Development
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