All agents in Zoho Zia Agents are built inside Agent Studio. The creation process is broadly the same across all four configuration types — the steps vary only depending on whether you include a Knowledge Base, tools, both, or neither. This guide walks you through each configuration from start to finish.

Before You Begin

Every agent requires the following foundational information regardless of its configuration type:

• Agent name and description — identifies the agent and summarises its purpose in listings and directories.
• Vendor configuration and model — specifies the LLM provider and model based on your organisation's preferences around capability, cost, and data handling.
• Role — a short statement of what the agent's job is, typically one to two lines.
• Instructions — defines the agent's behavioural parameters: tone, topics it should and should not cover, and any specific logic it should follow. More specific instructions lead to better performance.

Configuration Type 1: Agent Without Tools or Knowledge Base

This is the simplest configuration. The agent relies on the language model's general knowledge and the instructions you provide.

1. Complete the basic information and click Continue.
2. Skip the Knowledge Base step without selecting any documents and click Continue.
3. Skip the Tools step without selecting any tools and click Continue.
4. Configure guardrails in Additional Settings if required, then click Create.

Your agent is now ready for testing.

Configuration Type 2: Agent with Knowledge Base Only

This configuration gives the agent access to your uploaded documents, grounding its responses in your own business content rather than general AI knowledge.

1. Complete the basic information and click Continue.
2. Select your Knowledge Base documents — these can include product docs, FAQs, internal guides, or any reference material you have uploaded — then click Continue.
3. Skip the Tools step without selecting any tools and click Continue.
4. Configure guardrails in Additional Settings if required, then click Create.

Configuration Type 3: Agent with Tools Only

This configuration enables the agent to perform actions in your connected systems via API calls, using the model's reasoning to decide when and how to use each tool.

1. Complete the basic information and click Continue.
2. Skip the Knowledge Base step without selecting any documents and click Continue.
3. Add tools by clicking Add Tools on the Tools step. Select from System Tools (pre-built Zoho integrations) or Custom Tools (your own configured API connections), then click Add and Continue.
4. Configure guardrails in Additional Settings if required, then click Create.

Configuration Type 4: Agent with Tools and Knowledge Base

The full configuration. The agent has both your document context and the ability to act through connected tools.

1. Complete the basic information and click Continue.
2. Select your Knowledge Base documents and click Continue.
3. Add tools by clicking Add Tools, selecting the tools you need, then clicking Add and Continue.
4. Configure guardrails in Additional Settings if required, then click Create.

What to Do After Creation

Once the agent is created, you arrive at its details page. Before deploying, test the agent to verify it behaves as expected:

1. Click Test Agent in the top right corner to open the test window.
2. Interact with the agent in real time to observe how it responds based on its current configuration.
3. Refine as needed — adjust instructions, swap Knowledge Base documents, or reconfigure tools based on what you observe.