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AI agents are workers you create and configure inside Orbis. Each agent runs on a schedule, executing tasks you assign to it — like analyzing relationships, enriching contact data, or drafting follow-up suggestions. Agents work in the background so you don’t have to.

What agents do

Agents can handle a range of tasks inside your CRM:

Relationship intelligence

Identify contacts you haven’t reached out to recently, flag relationships at risk, or surface people worth reconnecting with

Contact enrichment

Research contacts and fill in missing context, job titles, or company information

Follow-up suggestions

Draft follow-up messages or summaries after meetings and calls

Board task execution

Work through tasks on a kanban board — researching, summarizing, or generating content for each card

Creating an agent

1

Go to Agents

In the left sidebar, click Agents. If you have no agents yet, you’ll see an empty state with a Create Agent button.
2

Click New Agent

Click the New Agent button in the top-right corner.
3

Name your agent

Give the agent a descriptive name — for example, “Relationship Monitor” or “Research Agent”. You can also choose an emoji to identify it visually.
4

Set a role (optional)

Add a role description like “Founder” or “Social Media Manager” to give the agent context about how it should respond.
5

Assign a board (optional)

If you want the agent to work through tasks on a specific kanban board, select that board here. An agent assigned to a board can be designated as the Board Lead, giving it primary responsibility for that board’s tasks.
6

Configure the heartbeat interval

The heartbeat interval controls how often the agent checks for new work. Options range from every 5 minutes to every 6 hours. Choose based on how time-sensitive the agent’s tasks are.
7

Customize personality and behavior (optional)

Use the Soul Template field to define the agent’s personality and approach in plain text — for example, “You are a concise, direct assistant focused on relationship building. Always prioritize warm introductions over cold outreach.”You can also set a Communication Style (e.g., “direct, concise, practical”) to tune how the agent writes.
8

Create the agent

Click Create Agent. The agent starts in Provisioning status and becomes Active once it’s ready.

Agent statuses

StatusWhat it means
ActiveThe agent is running and will process tasks on its heartbeat schedule
ProvisioningThe agent was just created and is being set up
InactiveThe agent is paused — it won’t process tasks until reactivated
ErrorSomething went wrong; check the agent’s health tab for details

Viewing and managing agents

From the Agents page, each agent card shows its name, status, assigned board, and when it was last active. Click an agent card to open its detail page, which has four tabs:
  • Overview — current status, assigned board, and soul template preview
  • Health — connection status, last seen time, and last health check
  • Skills — capabilities assigned to this agent
  • Configuration — edit name, board assignment, soul template, and identity profile
To activate or deactivate an agent, click the Activate or Deactivate button in the header, or use the dropdown menu on the agent card.

Agent skills

Skills extend what an agent can do. Each skill gives the agent access to a specific capability — like reading emails, searching contacts, or calling an external API. To add a skill to an agent:
1

Open the agent

Click the agent you want to configure.
2

Go to the Skills tab

Click the Skills tab in the agent detail page.
3

Add a skill

Click Add Skill and search or browse the skill catalog. Click a skill to assign it to the agent.
To remove a skill, click the × button next to the skill in the agent’s Skills tab.
Skills are sourced from the skill catalog, which your organization can extend. Skills are organized by category — for example, search skills, communication skills, or data skills.

How agents interact with your data

By default, agents read your CRM data to generate insights and suggestions. They can:
  • Search and analyze your contacts, interactions, notes, and threads
  • Generate summaries and recommendations
  • Create notes and draft content
When an agent is assigned to a board, it can also take action on board tasks: picking up a task, executing it, and marking it complete.
When an agent executes a board task that involves creating or modifying records — like creating a contact or saving a note — those changes are written to your workspace. Review completed tasks in the board view to verify the results.
Agents do not send emails, make calendar changes, or modify your contacts directly unless explicitly configured to do so via skills that enable those actions.

Configuring agent behavior

You can adjust an agent’s behavior at any time from the Configuration tab of the agent detail page:
SettingWhat it controls
NameDisplay name for the agent
BoardWhich kanban board the agent works on
Board LeadWhether this agent is the primary lead for its board
Soul TemplateFree-text description of the agent’s personality and approach
Identity ProfileRole, emoji, and communication style settings
Heartbeat IntervalHow often the agent checks for and processes new tasks
To edit, click Edit in the agent’s header, make your changes, and click Save.
The Soul Template is the most powerful way to shape agent behavior. Be specific: describe the agent’s focus area, preferred tone, and any constraints — for example, “Focus only on contacts in the climate tech sector. Always suggest a personal connection angle for follow-ups.”