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What is the Knova AI Agent Builder?

The Knova AI Agent Builder is a conversational interface that lets partners and customers create a configured Knova voice or chat agent through natural language — no manual form-filling required. You describe the business, paste a website URL, or explain the use case, and the builder proposes an agent with a system prompt, voice, tools, and configuration already filled in. Use the builder when you want to:
  • Spin up an agent quickly from a business description
  • Draft a system prompt from a live website (paste a URL)
  • Configure multi-agent routing (triage + specialists)
  • Iterate on a draft in plain English instead of editing fields
Knova Create Agent modal — Tab 2 (Setup Mode) with two large cards: AI Mode (BETA RECOMMENDED) and Manual Mode. The AI Mode card explains that AI picks tools, attaches the knowledge base, and writes the system prompt. The Manual Mode card explains full control over prompt, tools, and personas.

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Opening the builder

The Create Agent modal for Knova is a 5-tab sequential flow, not a single Basic form:
  1. Customer — pick the customer this agent belongs to.
  2. Setup Mode — choose AI Builder (chat-driven) or Manual (fill fields yourself). If you pick Manual, the AI Builder tab is hidden for the rest of the flow.
  3. Basic — agent name, system prompt, greeting, voice (only reached after you choose a Setup Mode).
  4. Advanced — tools, knowledge base, advanced config.
  5. Functions — function calls / tool wiring.
To open it:
  1. In the Partner Portal, navigate to AI Agents (or open a customer record and click Manage Agents).
  2. Click + Create Agent (top right).
  3. Walk through tabs 1–5 in order; each tab gates the next.
If you picked AI Builder on the Setup Mode tab, the Basic tab is replaced by a chat panel — describe the business and the builder drafts the system prompt, voice, and config. Click Apply to form to load the draft into the standard Basic tab for final tweaks.
Knova Create Agent modal — 5-tab sequential flow: Customer (active), Setup Mode, Basic, Advanced, Functions. The Customer tab is the first step and shows the 3 available customers with names + emails.

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Building an agent

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Basic flow

  1. Describe the business or use case. For example:
    An inbound receptionist that books cleanings on Calendly and texts confirmations.
  2. Paste a URL if you have one. When the builder detects a URL in your message it will read the page automatically and use it to populate the agent.
    Or paste your business URL and I’ll read it.
  3. Review the draft. The builder streams its reasoning, then presents a proposed agent configuration.
  4. Refine or accept. Ask for changes in plain English, or click Accept to save the agent.

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What’s in the proposal

The builder produces a complete agent configuration with:
  • Agent name and type (inbound, outbound, web, or multi-agent)
  • Communication channel (phone or web)
  • Agent mode (essential, moderate, or premium)
  • System prompt and greeting message
  • Function calls (tool integrations)
  • Multi-agent personas and routing (if applicable)
Review the proposal in the chat. Give feedback if you want changes — the builder will revise and re-propose. When you are satisfied, click Apply to form. The proposal is loaded into the standard agent creation form, where you can make final tweaks before saving.

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Autonomous web access — no toggle required

The builder can read web pages and run searches on its own, without any partner-facing toggle. (Earlier “Web search” / “Keep Web search on” toggles have been removed.)
SituationWhat the builder does
You paste a URL in your messageReads the page content before proposing the agent
You name a website (“their site is ipswich.plumbing”)Reads the site at the URL it infers
The business profile already has a website on fileReads it to pull current hours, services, and pricing detail
No URL is in scope and the builder needs to find oneRuns a web search to find the right page

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URL detection indicator

When the builder detects a URL in your input field, a teal badge appears above the text area:
URL detected — the builder will read it
This is informational only — no action is required. The builder will fetch the page as part of its reasoning.
Knova Agent Builder Chat input — the teal 'URL detected — the builder will read it' badge appears above the text area as soon as a URL is typed into the message composer. Informational only; the builder auto-fetches the page as part of its reasoning.

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What happens when a fetch fails?

If a site blocks the crawler, returns a 4xx error, or times out, the builder:
  • Acknowledges the failure briefly in its response
  • Asks you to paste the relevant text in plain English
  • Continues building the best draft it can without blocking
You do not need to retry or toggle anything.

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Progress indicators

While the builder is working, phase labels appear above the chat to show what it is doing:
Phase labelWhat it means
Reading your requestParsing your message
Fetching the web pageLoading a URL you provided or the business website
Searching the webRunning a web search to find a URL
Reading your business profileLoading business context from the customer record
Understanding the app integrationsInspecting available tool integrations
Drafting the agentComposing the system prompt and configuration

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Multi-agent configurations

The builder supports creating multi-agent setups where a routing agent hands off to specialised persona agents (e.g. sales, support, billing).

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Routing modes

ModeDescription
triage_specialistA triage persona routes to one of several specialists based on the caller’s intent
linearPersonas hand off in a fixed sequence
freeformEach persona decides whether to hand off

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Requirements for multi-agent proposals

  • At least 2 personas defined
  • A routing setup with a valid mode
  • An entry persona that takes the first turn
  • Every persona named in the routing must exist in the persona list
When editing an existing multi-agent setup:
  • All personas are loaded correctly into the builder
  • The entry (routing) persona is preserved
  • The builder can update individual personas or the routing logic

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AI Analytics gate

Knova agents support AI Analytics (call metrics and insights). The Partner Portal reflects your account’s AI Analytics status:
  • Enabled: you can configure and save metrics for any Knova agent.
  • Disabled: the Configure Metrics modal shows a warning banner and the Add / Save buttons are disabled, so you know the settings won’t take effect until AI Analytics is turned on at the partner level.

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Saving behaviour

  • While the agent is being saved (the save operation is in flight), closing the modal does not trigger an “unsaved changes” confirmation. The save will complete normally.
  • If you attempt to close the modal before saving, a confirmation dialog asks whether you want to discard your changes.
  • Once the save completes, the modal closes automatically.

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Customer assignment after building

After the builder creates an agent, you map it to a customer from the agent’s three-dot menu using Assign Customer to Agent (not a step inside the agent modal itself). The kebab entry opens a modal with a Customer dropdown and a Profit Multiplier field — no phone-number selection happens here. Phone-number assignment is a separate step that happens later in the agent’s edit flow under the assigned customer (not in the Knova agent modal). When a phone number is assigned to a Knova agent, the phone numbers listing now correctly shows the associated customer — the number will no longer appear as “Unassigned” after the assignment is saved (the PhoneNumber.customerId is backfilled if it was previously unset).
Knova agent row three-dot menu — Try Agent (BETA), Test Outbound Call, Edit Agent, Assign Customer, Configure Metrics, Delete Agent. The Assign Customer option opens a modal with a customer dropdown and a Profit Multiplier field.

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Builder reliability

  • Simple single-agent builds typically complete in under 30 seconds.
  • Complex multi-agent builds may take 60–90 seconds.
  • If the builder appears stuck for more than 2 minutes, close the modal and try again.

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Proposal validation

Every proposal is checked before being presented:
RuleDetail
System prompt lengthMax 15,000 characters per persona
Multi-agent: persona countMinimum 2 personas
Multi-agent: routingMust include a valid routing setup and an entry persona
Persona referencesEvery persona named in the routing must exist
If a proposal doesn’t meet a rule, the builder corrects itself on the next turn rather than showing you an error.

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Troubleshooting

Builder chat shows a spinner for a long time The builder is working through a multi-step turn. Wait up to 2 minutes before closing. Builder times out before finishing Complex multi-agent builds take longer. If you hit repeated timeouts, split the request into smaller steps — build one persona at a time for multi-agent setups. Input field has no cursor when the modal opens This has been fixed. The input now focuses automatically even when the builder is opened from inside another modal. If you still see this, make sure your browser is up to date. Fetch fails on every URL I paste Some sites block automated readers by design. Paste the relevant text from the page directly into the chat and the builder will use it. “No personas yet” when editing an existing multi-agent This has been fixed. Re-open the agent in the builder to reload the persona list. Applied proposal but form fields are empty Click Apply to form in the builder chat — the proposal does not populate the form automatically.