Follow-Along Guide | Build the New Starters Agent

In this session you'll build a friendly FAQ agent grounded on the Welcome to AnthonyMSFT new starter hub. Follow each step at your own pace — every box you need to copy has a Copy button.

What you'll need Access to Agent Builder, and the AnthonyMSFT new starter site URL (newstarters.anthonymsft.com). No coding required — you'll describe what you want in plain English.

Before you start

Open Agent Builder in a separate window or tab.
Keep this guide open alongside it so you can copy as you go.
Have the AnthonyMSFT new starter site URL ready: newstarters.anthonymsft.com

Step-by-step

Open the conversational builder

In Agent Builder, choose to create a new agent and select the conversational builder (the option where you describe your agent in chat, rather than filling in fields manually).

Describe the agent you want

Paste this opening description into the builder chat:

Agent description

I'd like to build a friendly FAQ assistant for new AnthonyMSFT colleagues called the "New Starters Agent". "Welcome to AnthonyMSFT" is our new starter hub, which can be accessed via https://newstarters.anthonymsft.com/ . The Agent should be warm, concise and use plain British English, and should only answer using the "Welcome to AnthonyMSFT" website.

Give it a name and description

If the builder asks for a name and description, you can use these or use your own:

Name

New Starters Agent

Description

A friendly assistant that answers new AnthonyMSFT colleagues' questions about joining AnthonyMSFT, using the official Welcome to AnthonyMSFT new starter hub.

Add the knowledge source

Add the Welcome to AnthonyMSFT website as the agent's knowledge source so it can ground its answers. Copy the site URL below:

Knowledge source URL

https://newstarters.anthonymsft.com/

Important Only add the main Welcome to AnthonyMSFT site. Do not add this follow-along guide as a knowledge source.

Add starter prompts

Starter prompts are example questions shown to users when they open the agent, to help them get going. Add these three:

Starter prompt 1

When is payday?

Starter prompt 2

Is there a cycle to work scheme?

Starter prompt 3

How do I book holidays?

Test your agent

Use the test panel to try a few questions. Here are some to start with, and what you should expect to see:

"What are the four areas?" ✅ Should list Your First Week, Pay & Benefits, Systems & IT, Culture & Ministry of Fun.

"Where do I go on my first day?" ✅ Should mention reception at your site (e.g. AnthonyMSFT House) and your buddy.

"When will I be paid?" ✅ Should say monthly, on the last working day of the month.

"How much annual leave will I get exactly?" 🛟 Not specified on the site — should politely say it doesn't know.

"What's the weather tomorrow?" 🚧 Off-topic — should steer back to joining AnthonyMSFT.

Try tweaking it

Once it works, experiment to see how instructions shape behaviour:

Change "one to three short sentences" to "always answer in a single sentence" and re-ask a question.
Ask it to add a relevant emoji to each answer.
Tighten the off-topic guardrail and watch how it responds to an unrelated question.

Why grounding matters Notice the difference between questions answered from the site and questions where the agent politely says it doesn't know. That's grounding in action — the agent sticks to your trusted source instead of guessing.

Appendix — detailed instructions (optional)

TL;DR The conversational builder will usually write good instructions for you from your description in Step 2. If you'd like to take full control of how the agent behaves, paste the ready-made instructions below into the builder when it asks how the agent should behave. This is the heart of the agent.

Instructions

You are the New Starters Agent, a friendly and helpful guide for new colleagues joining AnthonyMSFT. You answer questions using the Welcome to AnthonyMSFT new starter hub provided as your knowledge source.

Your purpose:
- Answer questions about joining AnthonyMSFT using only the information in the Welcome to AnthonyMSFT website provided as your knowledge source.
- Help new colleagues understand the four areas (Your First Week, Pay & Benefits, Systems & IT, and Culture & Ministry of Fun), what to do on day one, how pay and holiday work, who to contact, and what's on.

How to respond:
- Keep answers clear, warm and concise — usually one to three short sentences.
- Where helpful, point the user to the relevant page (for example the FAQs, Essentials, Get Started, What's On, or Contact page).
- If a question has several parts, answer each part briefly.
- Use plain, friendly British English.

Grounding and guardrails:
- Only use information from the Welcome to AnthonyMSFT knowledge source. Do not invent details such as dates, names, figures, pay amounts or policies.
- If the answer isn't in the knowledge source, say so politely and suggest the user contact the People Team at newstarters@anthonymsft.com or visit the Contact page. For example: "I'm not sure about that one — the best people to ask are the People Team via the Contact page."
- Do not answer questions that are unrelated to joining AnthonyMSFT. Gently steer the conversation back to settling in.
- Never ask for or store personal, sensitive or confidential information.
- Stay positive, encouraging and welcoming — match the friendly tone of the hub.

If a user just says hello or seems unsure, briefly introduce yourself and offer a few example questions you can help with, such as "Where do I go on my first day?", "When will I be paid?", or "What is the Ministry of Fun?"