How to Create Agents and Output Templates in Assist

What you'll learn

By the end of this article, you'll know how to:

Understand what agents and output templates are (in plain English)
Ask Assist to create an agent for you — straight from chat
Ask Assist to create an output template for a recurring document
Find where your new agent or template lives, and how to share it with others
Edit a template (or agent) after it's been created, without leaving the chat

The main explanation

What are agents and output templates?

Agents are specialist personas you can call on inside Assist. Each agent has its own instructions, tone, and knowledge — so it handles a specific job consistently, every time. Think of an agent as a team member who's always briefed and always on.

Output templates are pre-built document structures. They define the sections Assist should fill in — things like Objective, Audience, Key Message — and give Assist guidance on how to approach each one. Instead of starting from a blank page, you get a structured draft every time.

Both make Assist better at specific, repeatable jobs. You don't have to build them from scratch — just describe what you need.

Creating an agent

You don't need to open any settings page. Just describe the agent you want in chat.

Example prompt:

"Create an agent that writes our weekly client status updates in a friendly, no-jargon voice."

When you send a message like that, Assist will:

Check what agents already exist — so it doesn't create a duplicate of something you already have
Confirm the details with you — the agent's name, its @mention tag, and the instructions it will follow
Create the agent in your private space — it's yours until you decide to share it
Tell you it's ready — and remind you that you can @mention it in your next message

Note: Newly created agents don't appear in the @ -picker straight away. The picker refreshes per turn, so send your next message and it will be available.

Creating an output template

Same idea — describe the recurring document you keep writing, and Assist will build the template for you.

Example prompt:

"Create a template for our creative briefs with sections for Objective, Audience, Key Message, Deliverables, and Timing."

Assist will:

Check existing templates first — to surface anything that already covers your need
Confirm the section list and instructions with you before building
Create the template in your private space

You don't need to specify every detail upfront. Describe the job — Assist will figure out the structure and suggest sensible defaults.

Where do new agents and templates live?

Both land in your private space by default. Only you can see and use them.

When you're ready for others to use them, go to your Library and use the Promote feature to move them up to workspace or organisation level.

Important: Assist can't promote assets for you — that's a deliberate action you take in the Library. This keeps things tidy: start private, iterate, then promote when you're confident others will benefit.

Editing a template (or agent) after it's created

You don't need to dig into settings to make changes. Just ask in chat.

Example prompts:

"Add a 'Success metrics' section to my creative brief template."

"Change the instructions for the Audience section to ask for psychographics too."

Things you can update conversationally:

Name, description, icon, and colour
Section titles and the per-section instructions Assist follows
Overall AI instructions — how Assist should approach filling the template in
User instructions — what Assist should check with you before it starts drafting

The same applies to agents — ask Assist to update their guidance, conversation style, @mention tag, or anything else.

One thing to know about sections: when you update sections, they are replaced in full, in document order. If you only want to tweak one section and keep the rest unchanged, say so explicitly — for example: "Update only the Audience section instructions, keep everything else the same." Assist will follow that instruction.

Example / walkthrough

Step-by-step: Creating an agent

Open a chat in Assist (in any workspace or project)
Type a description of the agent you want — focus on the job it should do and the tone it should use
- Example: "Create an agent called Status Update Writer that writes weekly client updates in a warm, jargon-free tone"
Assist will check for existing agents and confirm the proposed name, @mention tag, and instructions
Review the details — if something looks off, just say so and Assist will adjust
Confirm, and Assist creates the agent in your private space
Send your next message — the agent will now appear in the @ -picker

Step-by-step: Creating an output template

Open a chat in Assist
Describe the document you want to templatise — include the sections you need
- Example: "Create a template for creative briefs. Sections: Objective, Target Audience, Key Message, Deliverables, Timing, Budget"
Assist will check for existing templates and confirm the section list with you
Review and confirm — or ask for changes before Assist builds it
Assist creates the template in your private space
To use it, @mention it in a future chat message — or let Assist auto-route to it when your request matches

Step-by-step: Editing a template after creation

Open a chat in Assist
Reference the template by name and describe the change you want
- Example: "Add a 'Success Metrics' section to my Creative Brief template, after Deliverables"
- Or: "Rename the 'Timing' section to 'Timeline' in my Creative Brief template"
If you're only changing one section, say so explicitly so the others aren't affected
Assist confirms the change and updates the template
The updated template is available immediately for your next use

Tips & common pitfalls

Describe the job, not the build

Tell Assist what the agent or template should do, not how to construct it. "An agent that writes punchy social captions for our product launches" works better than trying to specify every instruction manually.

Use what already exists

Before creating something new, Assist will check for existing agents and templates. If it surfaces one that already covers your need, prefer that over making a duplicate. A tidy Library is easier to navigate.

The @ -picker refreshes per turn

Newly created agents and templates won't appear in the @ -picker until your next message. Don't worry if you don't see them straight away — just send another message and they'll be there.

Start private, then promote

New assets land in your private space. That's a good thing — it gives you room to iterate before others start using them. When you're confident the agent or template is working well, use the Promote feature in your Library to share it at workspace or organisation level.

Assist can't promote for you

Promoting an asset to workspace or organisation level is a deliberate Library action — Assist won't do it automatically. This keeps control with you.

Editing sections? Be specific

When you ask Assist to update sections, they are replaced in full. If you only want to change one section, say so clearly: "Update only the Key Message section — keep everything else the same." Otherwise Assist may rewrite the full section list.

No settings page needed for small tweaks

You can rename an agent, adjust its tone, add a template section, or change instructions entirely from chat. Save the settings page for things that genuinely need it.