Getting started

This guide walks you through building your first AIP Chatbot in AIP Chatbot Studio (formerly AIP Agent Studio). You will open the application, create and configure a chatbot, test it, and publish it for others to use.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have the following:

• AIP enabled on your enrollment and permission to use AIP capabilities for custom workflows, which include AIP Chatbot Studio
• At least one large language model (LLM) enabled on your enrollment
• Permission to create files in the project or folder where you want to save your AIP Chatbot

Access AIP Chatbot Studio

To open AIP Chatbot Studio:

1. In the workspace navigation sidebar on the left side of the platform, select Applications to open the Applications portal.
2. Enter Chatbot in the search box, then select AIP Chatbot Studio from the results.

Alternatively, select Search… in the sidebar or press Cmd+J (macOS) or Ctrl+J (Windows) to open Quicksearch. Then, enter AIP Chatbot Studio and select the AIP Chatbot Studio result.

If AIP Chatbot Studio does not appear in your search results, you might not have access to it. Ask your platform administrator to review the prerequisites and the application access settings for your enrollment.

AIP Chatbot Studio opens to a home page that lists chatbots that you recently opened, along with reference examples. To see all chatbots that you can access, select All.

Create an AIP Chatbot

AIP Chatbots are saved as files in a project or folder, and they have the same granular access controls as other resources in the platform.

To create an AIP Chatbot:

1. On the AIP Chatbot Studio home page, select New AIP Chatbot in the upper right.

2. Select the default name (My New Chatbot followed by a timestamp) and enter a name for your chatbot. Optionally, add a description and an avatar image to fit the context of your application. Users of your chatbot see these details. If you do not add an avatar, AIP Chatbot Studio uses a gray robot icon.

3. Under Save location, choose Select a location. In the Select project or folder dialog, choose a project or folder from the Location dropdown menu, or select Browse to navigate to one. Then, select Save. If you do not have a suitable location and you have permission to create projects, select Browse, then select + Create new project.

   

4. Select Create chatbot in the lower right. This button is unavailable until you choose a save location. Your new chatbot opens in the AIP Chatbot Studio editor.

You can also create an AIP Chatbot directly from a project. Open a project or folder in Files, then select + New > AIP Chatbot.

Alternatively, create an AIP Chatbot from within AIP Threads.

Set up an AIP Chatbot

The left side of the editor contains a column of icons that open different panels. Hover over an icon to see its name. You use the following panels to set up your chatbot:

• Chatbot configuration: Choose a model, write instructions, and add the information and tools that your chatbot can use.
• Conversation settings: Customize the conversation experience, such as the prompts that users see when they start a conversation.

The chat panel in the center of the editor lets you test your chatbot while you configure it.

The editor opens on the Monitoring panel. To begin setting up your chatbot, select Chatbot configuration.

Choose a large language model (LLM)

Under Model settings, select a model from the Model dropdown menu. The models available to you are a subset of those enabled on your enrollment. Users of your chatbot should also have access to this model.

Modify the system prompt

In the Instructions field, describe the chatbot's role and how it should accomplish its task. These instructions are part of the chatbot's system prompt. For example:

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You are an assistant for a maintenance team. Answer questions about equipment maintenance clearly and concisely. If you are not sure of an answer, say that you do not know.

After you add tools or application state, press / in the Instructions field to refer to them and guide the chatbot on how to coordinate their usage. Make sure to describe the underlying business logic and the appropriate situations for using each tool.

Set the temperature

Use the Temperature slider to determine the balance between focused, deterministic output (default value 0) and more random output (maximum value 1).

Add information and tools

An AIP Chatbot can respond using only its model and instructions. To ground its responses in your enterprise's information, or to let it take actions, add any of the following in the Chatbot configuration panel:

• Retrieval context: Select Add retrieval context to include relevant Ontology objects, documents, or Function output with each message. Retrieval context is simple, fast, and recommended for most use cases. Ensure that users of your chatbot have access to the configured retrieval context to avoid errors at runtime.
• Tools: Select Add tool to let the chatbot query objects, run Functions, apply actions, and more. Use tools for complex and action-taking chatbots.
• Application state: Select Add variable to provide the chatbot with state when it is deployed in Workshop or an external application.

Add conversation starters

To customize the chatbot for your intended workflow, select Conversation settings on the left side of the editor. Under Conversation guide, enter text in the Input placeholder field and add example prompts under Starting prompts. Users see these when they start a conversation.

Test your AIP Chatbot

To test your chatbot, enter a message in the chat panel in the center of the editor. The chat panel uses your current configuration, including changes that you have not saved yet. To inspect how the chatbot generated a response, expand the reasoning steps above the response, or select the Expand all reasoning steps icon below the response.

Save, view, and publish an AIP Chatbot

When you are satisfied with your chatbot's responses, save and publish it:

1. Select Save in the upper right of the editor. To add a description to your saved version, select the down arrow next to Save, then select Save with description.

2. Select Publish to make your chatbot available for use in production environments. Publish and the publish settings icon next to it are unavailable while you have unsaved changes.

   

To view your AIP Chatbot in action from the perspective of an end user, select View and choose the desired version.

To give other users access to your chatbot, select Share in the upper right of the editor. If your project allows role grants only at the project level, grant users a role on the project instead. Users also need access to the model and the data sources that your chatbot uses.

You can also publish your chatbot as a Function, which allows you to run it through Automate and AIP Evals. To do so, select the publish settings icon next to Publish, select Publish function from chatbot, choose an Ontology, and enter the Function details. Then, select Publish chatbot and function.

Track AIP Chatbot feedback and usage

After you publish your chatbot, use the panels on the left side of the editor to understand how it is used:

• Monitoring: View the number of sessions and users, and the percentage of sessions that users marked as helpful or unhelpful. Users provide this feedback by giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down in a conversation.
• Usage: See where your chatbot is used, such as in Workshop applications, automations, and external deployments. You can also turn on AIP Assist to make the latest published version available in AIP Assist.

Use your AIP Chatbot

After you publish your AIP Chatbot, you can use it in the following places:

• AIP Threads
• Workshop, using the AIP Chatbot widget
• AIP Assist, after you turn on AIP Assist in the Usage panel
• Custom applications built with Developer Console, the Ontology SDK, or platform APIs

For a guided, hands-on walkthrough that includes configuring an AIP Chatbot, take the Speedrun: Your First AIP Workflow ↗ course.