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Documentation Index

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Autonomous agents handle open-ended customer conversations by deciding what to research, which tools to call, and when to respond. Instead of starting from one fixed runbook or workflow, an autonomous agent starts from your instructions and the resources you make available: runbooks, workflows, knowledge, guidelines, guardrails, and tools.

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When to Use Autonomous Agents

Use an autonomous agent when the conversation needs judgment, research, or flexible sequencing.
Use autonomous whenUse a workflow or runbook when
Customer requests vary widelyThe process follows the same steps every time
The agent needs to choose between multiple runbooks or workflowsYou already know the exact procedure to run
The agent may need to search knowledge, call tools, then decide what to do nextCompliance requires a deterministic branch-by-branch flow
The same deployment handles many support topicsThe deployment is scoped to one known task

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How Autonomous Agents Work

When an autonomous agent runs, Duckie gives it the conversation, your agent instructions, and the resources enabled for that agent. The agent can:
  • Read relevant runbooks before taking action
  • Follow guidelines and guardrails assigned to the agent
  • Search available knowledge
  • Call Duckie tools, app tools, custom tools, MCP tools, and workflows
  • Send a customer response through an available responder tool
  • End its turn when the work is complete
Autonomous agents also keep run history in Duckie, so you can review what they researched, which tools they called, and what response they sent.

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Create an Autonomous Agent

1

Open Agents

Go to Build → Agents and click Create Agent.
2

Select Autonomous

Choose Autonomous in the mode selector.
3

Name the Agent

Add a clear name, choose a status, and optionally adjust the model settings.
4

Write Instructions

Describe the agent’s job, scope, decision rules, and handoff expectations.Good instructions tell the agent what it is responsible for, what it should avoid, and how it should decide between available resources.
5

Configure Access

Open the configuration sections to choose tools, knowledge tags, rules, tracking, runbooks, and workflows.
6

Save and Test

Save the agent, then test it in the playground before deploying it to customers.

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Configuration Reference

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Instructions

Instructions are the primary behavior definition for an autonomous agent. Use them to define:
  • The agent’s role and scope
  • When to research before answering
  • Which situations require escalation
  • How to choose between runbooks, workflows, and tools
  • Tone or format requirements that are specific to this agent
Example: 
You are a billing support agent. Help customers understand invoices, payment failures, refunds, and plan changes.

Always check relevant billing runbooks before answering. If a customer asks for a refund, verify eligibility before making promises. Escalate disputes, chargebacks, legal threats, and account ownership questions.

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Model

Autonomous agents have model settings in the agent editor. Use the default model for most agents, and increase reasoning effort only when the agent needs deeper analysis.

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Tools

Autonomous agents can use enabled tools from the agent’s Tools section. Tool access can include: If all available tools are selected, Duckie stores that as all tools enabled. If you select a smaller set, the autonomous agent can only call the selected tools.

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Knowledge

Use Knowledge Tags to limit which knowledge the agent can search.
SettingBehavior
No tags selectedAgent can access all knowledge
One or more tags selectedAgent can access knowledge with those tags
No Tags selectedAgent can access untagged knowledge only

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Rules

Use Guidelines for communication behavior and Guardrails for restrictions and escalation rules. If you do not select specific guidelines or guardrails, the agent can use all available rules for the organization.

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Runbooks and Workflows

Autonomous agents can use runbooks and workflows as resources.
SettingBehavior
Only allow these runbooksLimits which runbooks the agent can read
Block these runbooksHides specific runbooks from the agent
Only allow these workflowsLimits which workflows the agent can call
Block these workflowsHides specific workflows from the agent
Runbooks are the highest-priority procedural resource. If a relevant runbook exists, the autonomous agent is expected to read it before searching broader knowledge.

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Tracking

Use Attributes, Categories, and Resolution Tracking to control how completed runs are classified for analytics.

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Best Practices

  • Give the agent a clear job boundary.
  • Make escalation conditions explicit.
  • Keep powerful write actions limited to agents that need them.
  • Use runbook and workflow allowlists for specialized agents.
  • Test common, edge-case, and escalation scenarios in the playground.
  • Start deployments in testing mode before switching to live traffic.

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Next Steps

Workflows

Build deterministic flows autonomous agents can call

Runbooks

Write procedures autonomous agents can read

Tools

Configure actions the agent can take

Playground

Test the agent before deployment