Deep-dive: My Admin and Content Zapier Agents
Take a closer look at improvements into my Admin Agent and a first look at my Content Agent.
Agents, Agents, Agents.
All the buzz right now. Let’s get past the buzz and into the build.
I’m deeply analyzing my own work to see how Agents can help. It’s taken a lot of reflection about how I actually get stuff done.
Hours of reflection (with ChatGPT as my willing sounding board).
My pledge to you: if I build an agent but don’t really use it, I’ll let you know. Likewise, if something actually pushes me toward my goal of higher quality, more community, and more focus I’ll shout it from my digital rooftop.
Deal?
Today, I’ll show you the specific instructions (or prompts) I use for my Admin Agent’s behaviors, tweaks I had to make to them, and then the beginning of my Content Agent.
You asked to go deeper, so let’s dive a bit deeper.
My Admin Agent 2.0
To see all the prompts I use in detail visit my Agent Prompts from Bryce doc.
My Admin Agent helps me stay focused by becoming my own virtual assistant for email, Slack, scheduling, and task management.
What’s working well:
- It only drafts emails when appropriate
- When I email my agent, it handles scheduling requests well
- Slack summaries and suggested replies or reactjis are accurate
What needs improvement:
- The voice/tone of the emails need some work
- Sometimes my agent doesn’t know if something should be a task or a calendar invite/hold (I struggle knowing, too)
- Slack summaries comes too often
- I talk to my agent via Slack
I’m working on an email feedback loop so that every time I send a new email it is recorded in my style guide as an example. I’ll create a new behavior for this.
Over time, it will get better at matching my voice.
I’ve adjusted the prompt to be clearer on when I need a task in Todoist versus a Calendar invite.
One of my agreements with myself is to be okay if things don’t work correctly. In order to actually start using Agents for real work is to be okay with trial and error.
As long as no sensitive data is being disclosed, I’m okay with an unintentional calendar invite being sent in the name of progress.
You’ll have to decide what you’re okay with as you build.
Since Slack summaries and drafts were coming too often, I added a delay step. That way, if I’ve already responded, the Agent won’t do anything.
I might also work on batching the summaries so that I have focused Slack time each day.
The Zapier Agents team is working on a way to better chat with agents via Slack, so I’ll wait until that’s released in order to have my agent start taking instructions from me directly in Slack.
Let’s look at the beginnings of my Content Agent.
My new Content Agent
My goal is to spend more time in my beloved creative flow state.
To get there? My content agent needs to get the ball rolling.
I’ll have no choice but to start running like Indiana.
I started with my most common task: new video requests.
I work closely with Product Managers and Product Marketing Managers and what usually happens is they let me know of a new release and ask me if I can make a video.
My agent handles what happens next.
For now, I message my agent directly when new requests come in.
I have it ask me about the rough title, a scheduled go-live date, whether it’s a shorter release video or a longer tutorial video, and a few bullets on what it will need to cover.
From that information, my Content Agent:
- Prepares a draft script pulling from a master list of transcripts from previous videos I’ve published.
- Adds the video details and script to my Coda video tracker (this is visible to my team).
- Schedules Calendar holds for preparing, filming, editing, and posting.
The Agent knows the scheduled go-live date and works backward to the week prior. It then scans my calendar for availability for recording and editing.
From my Task Reference Table data source, it knows about how long each part of the process takes for new releases vs tutorials and blocks time accordingly.
When new requests come in I’m not derailed by a handful of admin tasks.
And when I’m ready to record I can focus on getting into the creative aspects of video quickly.
What’s next
Video requests are only one part of my job.
I still need help with:
- Video repurposing
- Blog posts
- Social posts
- Email campaigns
- Other creative work
There is a lot more to build. I can’t wait!
To recap:
- My agents must be useful. If they’re not, I’m scrapping them and you’ll know about it.
- I’m allowing my agents to fail and learn just like I would a new employee on my team.
- My Content Agent has more work to do. Stay tuned for updates.
That’s all for this week!
Happy Building,
Bryce
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