Creating Agents

Ready to automate something? This guide walks you through creating your first background agent.

Before You Start

Make sure you have:

A Billix account
At least one integration connected (like Gmail or Slack)
An idea of what you want to automate

Creating Your First Agent

Go to Agents

Click "Agents" in the left sidebar. You'll see any existing agents and a "Create New Agent" button.

Click Create New

Click the "Create New Agent" button to open the agent builder.

Name Your Agent

Give it a clear, descriptive name:

Good: "Daily Email Summary"
Good: "GitHub PR Notifier"
Bad: "Agent 1"
Bad: "Test"

A good name helps you find and manage agents later.

Write Instructions

This is the most important part. Write clear, specific instructions for what the agent should do:

1. Check my Gmail inbox for unread emails from the last 24 hours
2. Filter for emails that appear to be important or urgent
3. Create a summary of each important email including:
   - Sender name
   - Subject line
   - Key points (2-3 sentences)
4. Format the summary as a bulleted list
5. Send the summary to me via email

Tip: Be specific! Instead of "check my emails," say "check my Gmail inbox for unread emails from the last 24 hours."

Choose an AI Model

Select the model that powers your agent:

Model	Best For
GPT-4o	General tasks, good balance
Claude 4 Sonnet	Writing, analysis, nuanced work
GPT-4o Mini	Simple tasks, cost-effective

Start with GPT-4o if unsure.

Select Tools & Integrations

Choose which connected services the agent can access:

Toggle on the integrations it needs
Only enable what's necessary (principle of least privilege)
The agent can only use enabled integrations

Configure Trigger

Set when the agent runs:

Schedule: Runs at specific times

Daily at 8:00 AM
Every Monday at 9:00 AM
Every hour

Webhook: Runs when called by external service

You'll get a unique URL to trigger the agent

Manual: Runs only when you click "Run Now"

Set Notifications

Choose how to be notified when the agent completes:

Email: Receive results in your inbox
In-app: See notifications in Billix
None: Check logs manually

Test Your Agent

Before activating, test the agent:

Click "Test Run"
Watch the execution in real-time
Review the output
Make adjustments if needed

Activate

Once testing succeeds, click "Activate" to turn on the agent. It will now run according to its trigger.

Writing Good Instructions

Structure Your Instructions

Use numbered steps for clarity:

1. [First action]
2. [Second action]
3. [Third action]
4. [Output action]

Be Specific

Check my emails and summarize them.

Problems:

Which email account?
All emails or just unread?
What time range?
How detailed should the summary be?

1. Check my Gmail inbox for unread emails received in the last 24 hours
2. For each email, extract:
   - Sender name and email
   - Subject line
   - 2-3 sentence summary of the content
   - Whether it seems urgent (yes/no)
3. Sort by urgency (urgent first)
4. Format as a numbered list
5. Send the formatted summary to me via email with subject "Daily Email Digest"

Handle Edge Cases

Tell the agent what to do in special situations:

If there are no unread emails, send a brief message saying
"No new emails to report."

If there are more than 20 emails, summarize only the 10 most
recent and note that there are more.

Include Format Examples

Show the agent what you want:

Format each email summary like this:

**From:** John Smith (john@example.com)
**Subject:** Q4 Budget Review
**Summary:** Requesting review of the Q4 budget proposal before
            the board meeting on Friday.
**Urgent:** Yes

Common Agent Patterns

Daily Digest Pattern

Name: Daily Email Digest
Trigger: Daily at 7:00 AM

Instructions:
1. Check Gmail for unread emails from the last 24 hours
2. Categorize by priority: High, Medium, Low
3. Summarize high-priority emails in detail
4. List medium and low priority with subject lines only
5. Send digest email with subject "Your Daily Digest - [Date]"

Monitor and Alert Pattern

Name: Important Email Alert
Trigger: Every hour

Instructions:
1. Check Gmail for unread emails from the last hour
2. Look for emails containing "urgent," "ASAP," or "deadline"
3. If found, immediately send me a Slack message in #alerts
   with the sender and subject
4. If none found, do nothing (no notification needed)

Weekly Report Pattern

Name: Weekly Project Report
Trigger: Every Friday at 4:00 PM

Instructions:
1. Get all completed tasks from Notion's Project Board
   from this week
2. Group by project and team member
3. Calculate completion rates
4. Create a summary report with:
   - Total tasks completed
   - Breakdown by project
   - Top contributors
   - Any blocked items
5. Post to #weekly-reports Slack channel

Agent Builder Interface

The agent builder has these sections:

Section	Purpose
Basic Info	Name, description
Instructions	Main prompt/instructions
Model	AI model selection
Tools	Enabled integrations
Trigger	Schedule, webhook, or manual
Notifications	Email, in-app, or none
Advanced	Timeout, retries, variables

Testing Tips

Start Small

Begin with a simple version:

Test with one action first
Gradually add complexity
Test each change

Use Test Mode

Test mode lets you:

Run without side effects (when possible)
See exactly what the agent does
Review before enabling real actions

Check Logs

After each run:

Go to the agent's detail page
Click on the run in history
Review the full execution log
Look for errors or unexpected behavior