> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.zuper.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Choose what to build > Compare skills, Marketplace agents, custom agents, and workflows to find the right fit for your task. Learn how Instructions and the Knowledge Base support your setup. Zuper Sense offers several ways to automate tasks and get consistent results without repeating the same work. **Skills**, **Marketplace agents**, **custom agents**, and **workflows** each serve a different purpose. This guide explains how they differ, when to use each one, and how Instructions and the Knowledge Base fit into your setup. ## Compare your options | | Skill | Marketplace agent | Custom agent | Workflow | | - | - | - | - | - | | **What it is** | Reusable instructions for a specific task | A ready-made agent provided by Zuper, such as the Weather Agent | An agent you configure for your business needs | A predefined sequence of actions triggered by an event or schedule | | **How it starts** | A person types `/` in Sense chat, or an agent uses the skill | Its configured trigger or **Run now** | Its configured trigger or **Run now** | A Zuper event, schedule, or webhook | | **How it works** | Uses AI to follow the task instructions | Uses AI to carry out its configured task | Uses AI to determine the steps needed to complete its task | Executes the configured steps in order | | **Where results go** | The chat thread where the skill was run | Depends on the agent's tools and configuration | Depends on the agent's tools and configuration | Depends on the workflow's actions | | **Setup effort** | Low: write the task instructions | Low: configure and customize an existing agent | Higher: write instructions, select tools and a trigger, and test | Depends on the number and complexity of steps | | **Best for** | Repeating a task with different inputs | A common task already covered by Zuper | A business-specific task that needs analysis, judgment, or a custom response | A rule that must execute the same actions consistently | | **Where to find it** | Sense → Agent Studio → Skills | Sense → Agent Studio → Marketplace | Sense → Agent Studio → My agents | Workflow Builder | ## Choose the right option Use these examples to identify the best starting point for your task. * **You keep typing the same detailed request into Sense.** Create a skill so you can reuse the instructions. * **Different people need the same report for different customers, sales reps, or time periods.** Create a skill that accepts different inputs. * **Zuper already provides an agent for your task.** Start with a Marketplace agent, such as the Weather Agent or Reputation Agent. * **You need a recurring report delivered automatically.** Create a custom agent with a scheduled trigger. * **You need to review records, identify patterns, or summarize findings.** Use a custom agent when the task requires analysis or judgment. * **An external system needs to send information to Zuper Sense for processing.** Use a custom agent with a webhook trigger. * **A specific event in Zuper must trigger the same action every time.** Use a workflow. * **A rule must be followed consistently without AI deciding the steps.** Use a workflow. * **Every agent response must follow a particular rule.** Add the rule to the agent's **Instructions**. * **An agent needs to understand a company term, definition, or policy.** Add that information to its [Knowledge Base](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Knowledge_Base.md). > [!TIP] > > Start with a request in Sense chat. If you find yourself repeating the same instructions, turn them into a skill. If the task needs to run automatically, consider using that skill with a custom agent. ## Agents and workflows Agents and workflows can both run on schedules, respond to webhooks, and send messages or emails. The main difference is how they determine what to do. * **Workflows** follow the steps you configure, in the order you define them. They are suited to fixed rules and actions, including responding to events in Zuper, such as a job being created or an invoice being updated. * **Agents** interpret their instructions and determine the steps needed to complete a task. They can review records, compare information, summarize findings, and produce results in natural language. Custom agents can run on a schedule, respond to a webhook, or be started with **Run now**. | Use a workflow when | Use an agent when | | - | - | | The rule is exact: when a job's status changes to Completed, email the customer the job report. | The task requires analysis: review yesterday's completed jobs and flag those that may need a return visit, with a reason. | | Each record must trigger an action as soon as a supported event occurs. | The task can run on a schedule or when another system sends a webhook. | | The output is a predefined message or field update. | The output is a summary, list, or recommendation for people. | | You need the same configured actions for every matching record. | The task requires interpreting information and can allow some variation in wording. | You can use both together. For example, a workflow can handle a fixed action whenever a job is completed, while an agent sends a daily summary of completed jobs that may need follow-up. ## Marketplace agents and custom agents Start with the Marketplace to see whether Zuper already provides an agent for your task. Configure the agent and tailor its **Custom Instructions** and **Knowledge Base** entries to suit your business needs. Zuper maintains Marketplace agents as the product evolves. Build a custom agent when no Marketplace agent meets your requirements, such as generating a business-specific report, checking an internal process, or responding to information from an external system. See [Custom agents](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Custom_Agents.md) to learn how to build and configure your own agent. > [!NOTE] > > Skills can be attached to custom agents only. To customize a Marketplace agent, such as the Weather Agent or Reputation Agent, use its **Custom Instructions** instead. ## Skills: reusable instructions for a task A skill defines how Sense should complete a particular task, including what to look for, what to include, and how to present the result. Create it once, then reuse it instead of typing the same detailed request each time. For example, you could create skills to: * **Prepare an inspection follow-up list:** List roof inspections completed in the last seven days that don't have a quote yet. Group the results by sales rep and include the customer's name, address, and inspection date. * **Summarize a homeowner proposal:** Explain a roof replacement proposal in plain language, including the scope of work, shingle line and color, warranty, total price, and next steps. * **Review overdue invoices:** List open invoices that are more than 30 days overdue and separate insurance-funded jobs from retail jobs. Zuper also provides ready-to-use skills, such as **Daily Brief** and **Quote Pipeline Health Report**. See [Skills](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Skills.md) for details. Skills work best when the task instructions stay consistent but the inputs change, such as the customer, sales rep, or reporting period. If Sense needs a detail you haven't provided, it can ask you for clarification before generating the result. ### Run a skill in Sense chat 1. Open Sense chat from the home screen or a thread. 2. Type `/` in the chat box. 3. Select the skill you want to run. 4. Provide any additional details needed to complete the task. Sense follows the skill's instructions using the data and knowledge available to it, including your accessible Zuper data, the Knowledge Base linked to the Business Intelligence agent, and Zuper's help documentation. The result appears in your chat thread, where you can ask follow-up questions or [pin the result to a Radar](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Radar/Overview.md). ### Attach a skill to a custom agent You can also use a skill as part of a custom agent's task, so the agent can follow the same procedure without someone running the skill manually. 1. Open the agent from **My agents**. 2. Select **Add skills**. 3. Choose the skill you want to attach. See [Attach a skill to an agent](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Skills.md#attach-a-skill-to-an-agent) for details. You can also reference a skill directly in the agent's **Instructions**. Type `@` in the Instructions editor and select the skill. If the skill isn't already attached, referencing it attaches it to the agent. ## Example: use one skill manually or automatically Suppose your sales manager reviews stalled roof replacement quotes every Monday before the team meeting. 1. **Create a skill.** Name it *Stalled reroof quotes* and give it instructions such as: "List roof replacement quotes sent more than 14 days ago that are still open. Group them by sales rep, show the customer, quote amount, and days since sent, and flag quotes over \$20,000." 2. **Run it in chat.** A sales rep types `/`, selects *Stalled reroof quotes*, and adds a detail such as "only mine" or "only the Dallas branch." Sense generates a response for that request in the rep's chat thread. 3. **Automate it with an agent.** If the report needs to arrive every Monday without anyone asking, create a custom agent with a weekly **Scheduled** trigger and the **Send Message (Chat)** tool. Reference the skill in the agent's Instructions, for example: "Every Monday, run @Stalled reroof quotes and post the list to the Sales channel." The skill defines **how** to prepare the report. The agent defines **when** to run it and **where** to send the result. Updating the skill updates the task instructions used in both scenarios. ## Skills, Instructions, and the Knowledge Base Skills, Instructions, and the Knowledge Base all contain text, but each serves a different purpose. Keeping them separate makes your agents easier to maintain and reuse. | Put it in | Use it for | Roofing example | | - | - | - | | **Skill** | The steps for completing a specific task | How to prepare the stalled reroof quotes list | | **Instructions** | The agent's purpose and rules for carrying out its work | Post the report every Monday to the Sales channel and round currency to the nearest dollar | | **Knowledge Base** | Facts, definitions, and policies the agent can refer to when relevant | What counts as a stalled quote and why insurance-funded jobs may take longer | If your skill or agent Instructions contain lengthy definitions or policies, move that information to the Knowledge Base. This keeps the task instructions focused and lets other skills and agents reuse the same information. ## Good to know * **Who can use skills:** Skills belong to your company, and everyone in the company can see them in the `/` list in Sense chat. Other Zuper customers can't see your skills. Access to the `/` list requires Agent Studio to be enabled for your company. * **Skill limits:** A skill's description can contain up to 200 characters, and its instructions can contain up to 7,000 characters. * **Data access:** A skill defines how Sense should perform a task; it doesn't grant access to additional data. Sense uses the data and knowledge available to it. If it can't access something the skill requests, it does the closest supported task and tells you what it couldn't do. * **Agent status:** An agent runs on its configured triggers only while its status is **Active**. Draft and Paused agents don't respond to their triggers. See [Agent status types](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Overview.md#agent-status-types). * **Agent limits:** Custom agents have limits on run frequency and the amount of data processed in a run. See [Limits and good practices](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Custom_Agents_Limits.md). ## Related topics * [Custom agents](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Custom_Agents.md): Build, test, and deploy a custom agent. * [Limits and good practices](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Custom_Agents_Limits.md): Understand custom agent run, data, webhook, and knowledge limits. * [Skills](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Skills.md): Create skills, run them with `/`, and attach them to custom agents. * [Knowledge Base](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Knowledge_Base.md): Provide agents with company terms, policies, and rules. * [Agent anatomy](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Agent_Anatomy.md): Understand the components of an agent. * [Agent Studio overview](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Overview.md): Learn about agents and their statuses. * [Marketplace agents](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Marketplace.md): Configure ready-made agents. * [Workflow overview](https://docs.zuper.co/Workflow_builder/Workflow_overview.md): Learn how to build a workflow. ## Related topics - [Agent Studio overview](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Overview.md) - [Limits and good practice](https://docs.zuper.co/Zuper_Sense/Agent_Studio/Custom_Agents_Limits.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.