Use Custom Prompt to build an AI agent for business development (BDM), collections, receptionist, or another agent flow. Define its instructions, connect approved information, and configure the actions it should perform.
Before you start: AI Agents must be enabled on your account, and you need permission to view and edit them. Contact sales@getaptly.com or your Account Manager for account enablement; see AI Agent Permissions for permissions.
1 Create the agent and define its job
Open AI Agents → Agents → New Agent and choose Custom Prompt. Complete Agent Name, Title, and Description. Use a customer-facing name and internal labels that explain the job. For voice calls, choose Call Voice and review speed, responsiveness, and tone.
Decide what the agent should accomplish, what it must not promise, what information it needs, and when a person should take over. For collections or another sensitive workflow, use your organization’s approved policies and escalation rules.
2 Choose how to write the instructions
Both prompting modes let you describe the agent’s job. Choose the format your team can maintain clearly; neither replaces Knowledge, channel settings, or capabilities.
Mode | When it is useful | How to use it |
Action builder | A guided structure that makes the goal, identity, greeting, and workflow easy to review separately. | Select Switch to action builder and fill in the named fields. |
Manual prompt | A single free-form instruction set when you prefer your own organization, branching, or exceptions. | Select Switch to manual prompt and write the instructions in Core Prompt. |
Action builder
- Agent Goal: the outcome the agent should work toward.
- Agent Identity: who it represents and its role.
- Shared Workflow: the conversation steps, boundaries, and handoff conditions.
- Voice Greeting: the call opening. Choose Exact Message for fixed wording or AI Generated Greeting for an adaptable example.
Goal, identity, and workflow are shared across voice, SMS, and email. Voice Greeting applies only to calls. Put channel-specific instructions in the separate channel settings.
Manual prompt
You can draft the manual prompt with your preferred AI tool, using Aptly’s LLM-generation instructions as the starting point.
- Select Switch to manual prompt and expand Instructions for LLM generation. Choose the channels and capabilities to include in the brief, then select Copy to clipboard and paste the brief into your preferred AI tool. These selections change only the brief; configure the actual Triggers and Capabilities separately.
- Describe the agent’s role, goals, tone, conversation steps, and boundaries. Include any preferences that apply only to voice, SMS, or email.
- Ask the AI tool to generate a tailored prompt using those instructions and your requirements.
- Review the output against your approved process, Knowledge, and configured capabilities. Remove invented facts, unsupported actions, and promises.
- Paste only the reviewed shared core prompt into Core Prompt. Put any generated channel-specific instruction blocks into their matching channel editors. Paste the resulting agent instructions, not the request you gave the AI tool. Save and test as described in step 6.
BDM example to copy into your AI tool
Paste this after Aptly’s LLM-generation instructions, then adapt it to your workflow:
I want to create a prompt for my BDM Agent using the Aptly instructions above. The agent represents our property management team. It should understand property owners' management needs and ask whether they want a follow-up. It should be direct and concise.
For voice calls, my preference is to encourage callers to continue by text when appropriate and SMS is configured, while respecting callers who prefer to stay on the call. Use approved Knowledge for service questions. Do not invent fees or promise a contract.
Generate the shared core prompt and separate channel-specific instruction blocks as directed in the Aptly instructions. Ask me about any missing requirements before drafting.Encouraging text is a workflow preference in this example, not a guarantee of greater reliability. Test how the agent responds when a caller accepts or declines the suggestion.
The same BDM instructions in either mode
Adapt this example to your approved process. It describes conversation behavior, not a promise that data is saved or a follow-up is booked.
Action builder example
- Agent Goal: Understand property owners’ management needs and ask whether they want a follow-up.
- Agent Identity: You are the business development assistant for our property management team.
- Shared Workflow: Ask about property location, type, and unit count. Answer service questions using approved Knowledge. Ask for the preferred contact details if the owner wants a follow-up. Summarize the request. Do not invent fees or promise a contract.
Manual prompt example for Core Prompt
You are the business development assistant for our property management team. Understand property owners’ management needs and ask whether they want a follow-up. Ask about property location, type, and unit count. Answer service questions using approved Knowledge. Ask for the preferred contact details if the owner wants a follow-up. Summarize the request. Do not invent fees or promise a contract.
In the action builder, a call-only Voice Greeting could be: “Thanks for contacting our property management team. How can I help with your property?” In manual mode, keep shared instructions in Core Prompt and put call-opening instructions in the matching voice-channel editor. Review the content shown whenever you change editing modes, then test the result.
3 Add approved reference information
Keep instructions about what to do in the prompt. Put reference facts, such as services, policies, office hours, and contact details, in Knowledge.
- Voice: use the agent-page Knowledge section. Review Adjust Default Knowledge, and use Import from Knowledge Doc for existing documents. See How to Set Up AI Agent Knowledge and How to Import Knowledge Docs to Use with an AI Agent.
- SMS and email: connect reference material through Knowledge - Search (SMS & Email) under Capabilities.
- Property information, when relevant: review Relevant Locations. Use Add Property/Unit, Add Filter, and Adjust Discussion Fields to control the information the agent can discuss.
Knowledge does not configure transfers, card creation, or field updates.
4 Connect the channels you need
Under Triggers, configure Inbound Call, Inbound SMS, or Inbound Email as needed. You do not need all three. Review each channel’s instructions and controls separately; see Expanded AI Agent Channels for the full setup.
For calls, use Inbound Call → Add Number, confirm the line’s call handling, and review caller-information options. The Fail Over Number handles AI-provider issues; it is not an unanswered-transfer rule. Review monthly call/minute limits separately.
For email, review whether replies are drafts for a person to send or are sent automatically. Do not assume the email reply setting also controls SMS.
5 Configure actions and collected fields
Under Capabilities → + Add Capability, add the actions your workflow needs. Use AI Agent Capabilities: Functions and Settings to choose the relevant capabilities, then complete their settings.
- Save information to a card: configure Data Collection Settings and Card - Create/Update, including the destination board and stage. Follow Create or update cards with an AI agent.
- Transfer a voice call: configure Transfer Call rules and destinations. Follow How to Set Up Transfer Capability with an AI Agent.
A prompt requesting an action does not enable it. Check the configured fields and resulting record or action.
6 Save and test the complete workflow
Select Save. Test each connected channel with an ordinary request, an out-of-scope request, and a request for a person. Check the answers, collected fields, and configured outcomes. For calls, also test the inbound line and unanswered-transfer route.
Correct the prompt, Knowledge, or capability responsible for a problem, then re-test. Use Test and Improve Your Voice AI Agent for voice review and AI Agent Handoff and Activities for SMS/email supervision.