How to talk to your agent

An AI agent is the thing that builds, runs and maintains software in AaSS (Agent as Software Solution). You work with it by talking to it, in plain words. Think of a very fast new hire who forgets everything overnight. Nearly all of what follows comes from that one picture.

This page is free, and so is the prompt at the end. If you only read one lesson before you start, read this one.

Say what you want, not how

You don’t need the technical words. Say what you want to be true when it’s done, and who it’s for. “I want customers to see my opening hours on their phone” is a good instruction. How it gets done is the agent’s job.

You can say it out loud, too. Alex G. dictates most of what he tells his agents, mistakes and all. The agent reads for what you meant.

It wakes up with no memory

Every new session starts cold. It doesn’t remember yesterday unless yesterday is written in a file it reads. So give it one file: what your business is, what was decided and why, and what comes next. Ask it to read that file first and update it last.

If it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.

Ask for the plan before the work

Before anything big, say: “Tell me what you’re going to do, what could go wrong, and what you need from me. Don’t start yet.” Then say yes, or change it. A wrong plan takes a minute to fix. Wrong work takes an afternoon.

One job at a time, and you hold the doors

Give it one job. Check it. Then give it the next. Long lists come back half done.

Some doors stay yours: anything that leaves your computer or can’t be undone. Sending, publishing, paying, deleting. Tell it in the first message that these need your yes, every time.

Don’t take its word for it

An agent says “done” with total confidence, and sometimes it’s wrong. So ask: “How can I check this myself?” Then check. Click the button. Open the page on your phone.

Better still, ask it to build a check that fails when something is wrong, and to run it every time. Done means the check passed, not that the agent said so.

When it gets it wrong, ask for the rule

Don’t only fix the one mistake. Say: “Why did that happen? Write the rule in the file so it doesn’t happen again, and look for the same mistake anywhere else.”

This is how it gets better at your business. The file grows, and you stop repeating yourself.

What it won’t do for you

It won’t make the calls. It doesn’t know your customers, and it doesn’t carry the risk. You’ll read what it did and decide, and that takes real attention. An agent costs money too, usually a subscription. Know that before you start.

Your first prompt

Open your agent in an empty folder and paste this.

I run a small business and I have not done this before. Use plain words, and go one step at a time.

First, ask me about my business: what it does, what a normal week looks like, and which tool I pay for annoys me most. One question at a time, five at most.

Write my answers in a file called ABOUT-MY-BUSINESS.md in this folder. Read that file at the start of every session, and update it before every session ends: what we decided, why, and what comes next.

Then tell me the smallest useful thing you could do for me this week. It must not replace or change any tool I use today. Tell me what you would do, what could go wrong, and what you need from me. Do not start until I say yes.

Rules that always hold:
- Never delete anything.
- Never send, publish, buy or sign up for anything without my yes, every time.
- When you finish a step, tell me what you did and how I can check it myself.
- When I correct you, write the rule in the file so it does not happen again.

Need an agent first, or want to see a whole run? The free kit’s guide lists what you need and walks through putting a real website live.

Take-home

1. Open your agent in an empty folder and paste the prompt.
2. Answer its questions. Then read the file it wrote.
3. Correct one thing in it, and ask for the rule.