> For the full page index, fetch https://echonova.ai/llms.txt

# Quickstart: your first agent

Create an agent, give it a persona, talk to it in the playground and connect one channel, in six steps that each link the page with the detail.

An agent answers people on your behalf, and you can have one talking to you
within half an hour of signing up. This page is the shortest route: create
it, write its persona, hear it in the playground, and put it on one channel
where a colleague can message it. Each step is one sentence and a link to
the page that carries the detail, so read the linked page when a step
raises a question.

## What you need

- An account and its workspace; see
  [Sign up and create your workspace](/docs/get-started/sign-up-and-create-a-workspace).
- Credits on the workspace balance. Every test and every channel
  conversation is charged by the turn; see
  [What a turn costs](/docs/agents/what-a-turn-costs).
- A voice you like from the library, or a minute to pick one in the create
  step; see [Choosing a voice](/docs/playground/choosing-a-voice).
- For Step 6, a Slack workspace you can add apps to, or another channel you
  can message from your own account.

## Steps

### Step 1: Open the agents list

Choose **Agents** under **Build** in the sidebar, then press **Build New
Agent**; see
[Create an agent](/docs/agents/create-an-agent#step-1-open-the-chooser).

### Step 2: Create it

Choose **Start from scratch**, type an **Agent Name**, pick a voice under
**Choose a voice**, and press **Create**; the agent opens on its
**Overview** tab; see
[Create an agent](/docs/agents/create-an-agent#step-2-pick-a-build-route).

### Step 3: Write the persona

Open the **Persona** tab, write **Personality** as a brief for a new
teammate that names the agent and says what it does, and give it a
**Greeting message**; both save as you type; see
[Write the persona](/docs/agents/persona).

### Step 4: Talk to it

Press **Test** in the agent header, choose **Chat**, ask it three questions
a customer would ask, then press **End Test** and try **Call** to hear the
voice; see [Test your agent](/docs/agents/test-your-agent).

### Step 5: Connect one channel

Open the **Channels** tab, press **Add Channel**, choose **Slack**, type a
**Name**, press **Connect**, approve on Slack, and press **Confirm
Connect** with **Direct Messages** on; see [Slack](/docs/agents/slack).

### Step 6: Send the first message

In Slack, send the EchoNova app a direct message, read the reply there, then
open the agent's **Conversations** tab and read the same exchange with what
it cost; see
[Find and read a conversation](/docs/agents/conversations).

## Get it right

One agent per job. A persona that describes one role, one set of callers
and one set of tasks gives the model less to guess, and gives you a test
you can repeat.

**Recommended**

```text
You are Sara, the support agent for Acme, an online electronics shop in
Cairo. Introduce yourself as Sara. You answer questions about orders,
deliveries and returns. If a caller asks for anything else, say that is
outside what you can help with.
```

**Less effective**

```text
You are a helpful assistant for Acme. Help with anything the customer
needs.
```

[How the prompt is assembled](/docs/agents/prompting-guide) carries two
prompts end to end.

## Worked example

Sara chooses **Agents**, presses **Build New Agent**, picks **Start from
scratch**, names it `Acme Support`, chooses an Egyptian voice and presses
**Create**. On **Persona** she pastes the recommended prompt above and sets
**Greeting message** to `Acme support, Sara speaking. How can I help?`. She
presses **Test**, chooses **Chat**, types `Where is my order?` and reads
the answer; she presses **End Test**, chooses **Call**, asks the same aloud
and hears the voice. On **Channels** she presses **Add Channel**, chooses
**Slack**, names it `Acme Slack`, presses **Connect**, approves on Slack,
and presses **Confirm Connect**. In Slack she messages the app; the reply
arrives in the same thread, and on **Conversations** the exchange is listed
with its turns and **Total credits**.

## What happens next

- The agent is **Live**. Every message to the connected channel is a
  conversation with it, answered with the persona, voice and settings saved
  at that moment, and charged by the turn; see
  [Agent status](/docs/agents/agent-status).
- The agent knows nothing of your business yet beyond the persona. Give it
  documents and web pages on the **Knowledge** tab; see
  [How knowledge works](/docs/agents/knowledge-overview).
- It cannot act yet. Give it tools on the **Tools** tab; see
  [Tools overview](/docs/agents/tools-overview).

## Limits

| Limit         | Value                                                                                                                                      | Applies to        |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- |
| Active agents | Your plan's active-agent limit; **Build New Agent** shows **Plan limit reached** at the limit                                              | Creating an agent |
| Voices        | At least one active voice in the library; with none, the create step reads **No voices are available yet, so an agent cannot be created.** | Creating an agent |
| Playground    | One turn at a time in **Chat**; closing the overlay ends the session                                                                       | Testing           |

The limits of each tab are on its own page under Agents.

## Troubleshooting

### Plan limit reached

The workspace has as many live agents as its plan allows. Archive one with
**Pause Agent**, which frees its place, or change the plan; see
[Agent status](/docs/agents/agent-status) and
[Choose or change your plan](/docs/account/plans-and-subscription).

### Test is greyed out

The agent is archived. Press **Restore** in the header; see
[Agent status](/docs/agents/agent-status).

### The agent answers in Chat but stays quiet in Slack

Check that **Direct Messages** is on in the connection's triggers, and that
the message went to the app rather than to a channel it is not bound to;
see [Slack](/docs/agents/slack#troubleshooting).

## FAQ

### Do I need a channel to use the agent?

No. **Test** runs the same agent a customer would reach, and each test is
recorded on **Conversations**. Connect a channel when people outside the
portal should reach it.

### Which channel should I connect first?

The one you can message yourself, today, from your own phone or account.
That shows you the whole loop before a customer does. Slack takes a sign-in;
WhatsApp and a phone number need setup on the provider's side first. See
[Channels overview](/docs/agents/channels-overview#get-it-right).

### Can I let a model write the agent for me?

Yes. **Create with AI** interviews you and designs the prompt, greeting,
voice and model settings; see
[Build an agent with AI](/docs/agents/build-with-ai).

### Does the agent cost anything while nobody talks to it?

No. Configuration costs nothing; conversations do: their AI usage, and on a call the connected time. See
[What a turn costs](/docs/agents/what-a-turn-costs).

## Related

- [What is an agent](/docs/agents/what-is-an-agent): every part of an agent
  and where each is set
- [Create an agent](/docs/agents/create-an-agent): the three build routes
- [Write the persona](/docs/agents/persona): the tab that changes behaviour
  most
- [Test your agent](/docs/agents/test-your-agent): what a test proves and
  what it does not
- [Channels overview](/docs/agents/channels-overview): every channel and
  which to launch first
- [Quickstart: your first speech file](/docs/get-started/quickstart-first-speech):
  hear a voice on your own text before you give it to an agent