A useful design separates what the agent should know from what it should be allowed to do. A policy document can inform an answer; a tool can request or perform an action. Giving access to one does not settle the rules for the other.
This path is for teams choosing the resources behind an agent workflow, including source owners and people responsible for connected systems.
Start with the distinctions
Knowledge supplies job-relevant information; skills guide a reusable method; tools expose defined actions; connections give tools a path to external systems. Treat access to information and authority to act as separate decisions. Read knowledge, skills, tools, and connections for a detailed chooser, then review permissions and boundaries before enabling a capability.
Prepare a resource inventory
List the documents, reusable instructions, tool actions, and connected systems the job needs. For each one, record:
- Its purpose: which part of the job it supports.
- The person responsible for its accuracy or availability.
- Access limits: who may see information and whether a capability may read, create a draft, or change an external record.
- How you will detect an outdated source, a failed request, or an incomplete result.
- How to remove access when the job or owner changes.
For example, a service inquiry assistant may need approved service descriptions and a way to collect a visitor's question. That does not automatically require access to internal commercial notes or permission to alter customer records. Review each additional capability against the focused job brief.
Test resources as well as answers
Include conflicting documents, unavailable connections, and denied actions in the pilot. Define a useful response for each failure, such as asking for clarification, identifying missing information, or handing the task to a person.
See evaluation guidance for the pilot process, the glossary for terminology, and AgentShelf's knowledge and tools overview for product details.
All guides in this topic
- Knowledge, Skills, Tools, and Connections: Knowledge provides information, skills guide work, tools perform actions, and connections give those tools a path to other systems.
- Connect an AI Agent to Business Systems: Choose an integration by separating its protocol, connection, identity, and permissions; a protocol alone does not grant access to a business system.
- How to Ground an AI Agent in Approved Business Context: Give an agent a bounded task, current sources with named owners, and a tested way to handle missing or conflicting evidence.