Building your first agent

What you will do

Build a custom agent from scratch using Dust's agent builder and Sidekick, the built-in helper that drafts instructions for you.

Open the agent builder

Click Create from the Dust homepage, then select Start from scratch. The agent builder opens with empty fields on the left and Sidekick's conversation panel on the right.

Sidekick will ask: "What should this agent do?"

Describe the agent's job to Sidekick

Be specific. A vague description produces a vague agent. Compare:

Weak: "Help me with clients."

Stronger: "I want an agent that prepares me for client meetings. For any client I name, it should pull recent interactions from Notion, open support tickets, and deal status from HubSpot. It should produce a one-page summary I can read in five minutes."

Sidekick will draft instructions and suggest knowledge sources based on your description. Review them, edit anything that does not match your intent, and iterate until the preview behaves as expected.

Configure instructions

Instructions are the core of your agent. They define, in natural language:

• Role. What the agent is. ("You are a client preparation assistant.")
• Process. What steps it should follow. ("First search for the client name in Notion. Then check HubSpot for deal status.")
• Tone. How it should communicate. ("Be concise. Use bullet points. No filler.")
• Constraints. What it must not do. ("Never fabricate information. If you cannot find data, say so.")

Add knowledge sources

In the Capabilities and Knowledge section, connect the data sources your agent needs. Select specific folders or channels, not your entire knowledge base. The more focused the selection, the better the results.

Add a description of each data source. This helps the agent understand when to search it.

"This Notion folder contains all client meeting notes from 2025 onward. Use it to find recent interactions with a named client."

Set the handle and visibility

• Handle. Choose a clear name: @clientPrep, @askHR, @weeklyDigest. Users will type @name to call the agent.
• Published vs unpublished. A published agent is visible to everyone in the workspace (if they have access to its data sources). An unpublished agent is visible only to you and any editors you add.

Start unpublished while you are testing.

Test in the preview

Use the preview area next to the builder. Ask the agent several questions, including edge cases. If it gives a wrong answer, update the instructions or adjust the knowledge sources and test again.

What you should see

A custom agent that responds to questions by searching your connected data sources and following the instructions you wrote. The preview conversation should show citations from your actual documents.