Choose between a skill, a tool, and a knowledge source
An agent that cannot handle a request is missing one of three things: a procedure, an action, or a fact. Each maps to a different building block, and picking the wrong one is the most common reason an agent still misbehaves after you extend it.
The three building blocks
Block | What it adds |
|---|---|
Skill | A procedure. A reusable, versioned bundle of instructions that teaches the agent how to run a repeatable, multi-step job. Attach the same skill to any number of agents. A skill can declare the tools it depends on, and it cannot be attached to an agent that lacks them. Learn more: Create a skill. |
Tool | An action. The only block that can change something — create a record, call an API, send an email. It can also read live data, which a Creatio data knowledge source does too. The Creatio data knowledge source type is enabled per organization and appears only where it has been turned on. Learn more: Tools in Creatio AI Studio. |
Knowledge source | A fact. Indexed content the agent retrieves from, with citations. Read-only: it informs answers and never acts. Learn more: Add a knowledge source. |
The blocks are not alternatives. A production agent normally uses all three: the system prompt sets the persona, a skill carries the procedure and calls tools to act, and knowledge grounds the answers.
"When a customer asks for a refund, check that it is eligible, process it, and email a confirmation."
- Skill — the refund procedure itself.
- Knowledge source — the eligibility policy the agent checks against.
- Tool — processing the refund and sending the email.
Now take a request that needs fewer blocks: "Answer product questions, and if it turns out to be a bug, log a case."
- Knowledge source — the product answer.
- Tool — logging the case.
No skill is needed here, because there is no multi-step procedure to teach.
Ask what the agent lacks
Symptom | What to add |
|---|---|
It cannot reach or change the data | A tool. Nothing else can act. To read live CRM records without acting on them, a Creatio data knowledge source does the job instead, where that knowledge source type has been turned on for your organization. |
It does not know the facts | A knowledge source, for stable reference content such as policies, product information, and FAQs. |
It does not follow the steps | A skill, especially when several agents need the same procedure or it is too long for the system prompt. |
It is one line of behavior | Nothing. Put it in the agent's instructions. No procedure, action, or corpus means none of the three blocks applies. |
Common mix-ups
What people do | What to do instead |
|---|---|
Paste a whole manual into the system prompt | Create a knowledge source. Content is retrieved on demand rather than carried in every request. |
Store live prices or records as knowledge | Use a tool. Indexed content goes stale the moment the record changes; a tool reads the current value. |
Copy the same procedure into five agents | Build one skill and attach it to all five. Fixing it once then fixes it everywhere. |
Build a skill for a single sentence of guidance | Add the sentence to the system prompt. A skill is overhead for one instruction. |
Expect a knowledge source to update a record | Add a tool. Knowledge is read-only and never acts. |