Your first task

Start with your personal agent#

Open your workspace and choose Agent in the sidebar. Your personal agent works with your permissions, its own persistent files, and the instructions you give it. You can start with a file and a task before connecting an external service or building an app.

If the workspace is new, you can first tell the agent what your business does. It can help capture company context and your role. You can also go straight to work and refine that context later.

Give it a specific outcome#

Describe the source, the result, and any boundary that matters. For a first task, use a file whose contents you know so you can judge the result.

Use the attached spreadsheet to prepare a weekly operations summary. Group the work by owner, flag missing deadlines, and create a one-page report. Save the report and the script used to calculate the totals. Do not change the source file.

If the information lives in an app or connected account, identify it. The agent needs access to that source; describing a system does not connect it.

Follow the work#

The conversation shows replies, questions, and tool activity. The agent can read the attachment, use a document or spreadsheet tool, and write and run code when the task calls for it. It can keep the source, script, and result in its workspace files.

Open tool activity to see the actions and their results. If the agent asks a question, give it the missing detail. If an action needs approval, review the target and proposed change before accepting. Approvals and access permissions serve different purposes.

Check and refine the result#

Open the generated file or resulting record. Check the values, the source, and whether the output answers your request. Continue in the same conversation to refine it:

Put the three oldest items first, keep the report under one page, and explain any rows excluded from the totals.

A file saved in the agent workspace can be reused later. If the result needs to be a shared business record, ask the agent to store it in the appropriate app or storage location and confirm the sharing. A chat attachment and a team record are different things.

Make the next task easier#

Save durable company information in Context, and use a skill for a process you repeat. A new conversation gives the next task its own thread while the agent retains its workspace and configured knowledge.

Once a task works reliably, ask about a schedule. If the work needs a dedicated interface, describe the workflow and build an app. You can keep using conversation and apps together.