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Build Your First Agent

The goal is not to create the most powerful agent. The goal is to create one agent that does one useful job reliably.

Choose your build path

HiveMind

Describe your agent in plain English. HiveMind (our AI assistant) generates the agent definition for you.Best for: Non-technical builders, rapid prototyping

Visual Builder

Configure your agent step-by-step through the UI. Set instructions, tools, memory, and schedules without writing code.Best for: Operators who want control without code

HiveLang

Write agent behavior in HiveLang v5. Full expressiveness, version-controllable, CI/CD-deployable.Best for: Developers and technical teams

Step 1 — Write the agent brief

Before touching the builder, write out your agent brief:
Example brief:

Step 2 — Write behavior rules

Good rules make the agent consistent. Weak rules get ignored.

Good Rules

  • “Ask one clarifying question when the request is missing account details.”
  • “Use short paragraphs and concrete steps.”
  • “When a tool fails, explain what failed and how to retry.”
  • “Never invent integration results.”
  • “Keep responses under 150 words unless more detail is requested.”

Weak Rules

  • “Be smart.”
  • “Be friendly.”
  • “Do everything the user needs.”
  • “Use tools when helpful.”
  • “Be accurate.”

Step 3 — Connect tools carefully

Tools let an agent act. They also introduce risk. Before connecting any tool, ask: Example tool plan:

Step 4 — Configure memory

  • Customer company name
  • Preferred language or tone
  • Recurring issue type
  • Current project context
  • Previous troubleshooting steps taken
  • One-time secrets or auth codes
  • Payment card details
  • Another user’s private data
  • Raw API responses
  • Ephemeral session data that isn’t useful next time

Step 5 — Test with realistic cases

Step 6 — Deploy one surface first

Don’t deploy everywhere at once. Start with one channel:
  1. Hosted web link — fastest to share, great for demos
  2. Telegram — if your users are already there
  3. API — if your SaaS backend needs to call the agent
Then add more channels after the first one works perfectly.

Step 7 — Improve from traces

After real users interact with your agent, open the Runs tab and look for:
  • Repeated user confusion → Fix your instructions
  • Slow tool calls → Check integration health
  • Wrong tool selected → Add specificity to instructions
  • Missing context → Add a before input hook in HiveLang
  • Hallucinated claims → Add explicit “never claim X unless Y confirms it” rules

Full HiveLang v5 example

Common mistakes

One agent, one responsibility. Agents that try to do everything do nothing well.
Define what the agent should do before deciding which tools it needs. Don’t work backwards from tools.
Real usage always hits edge cases. Test what happens when a tool fails before you’re in production.
A trace that shows nothing meaningful is worse than no observability — it gives false confidence. Make sure traces show the context, tools called, and any errors.
“Be helpful and accurate” is not an instruction. “When the user’s request is missing their email, ask: ‘Could you share your account email so I can look that up?’” is an instruction.

Next reads

Deployment Guide

Custom Integrations

Observability