Assistant

1. Definition

An Assistant is a user-oriented AI capability that helps a user understand, retrieve, create, analyze, summarize, or complete a bounded task.

The user remains the primary controller of the interaction.

flowchart TD
    U(["User"]):::actor --> A[["Assistant"]]:::model
    A --> P["Prompt / Instructions"]:::process
    A --> M[["Model"]]:::model
    A --> K[("Knowledge")]:::store
    A --> T["Limited Tools"]:::govern
    A --> S[("Session Memory")]:::store
    P --> O(["Answer / Draft / Suggested Action"]):::output
    M --> O
    K --> O
    T --> O
    S --> O

    classDef actor fill:#DBEAFE,stroke:#1D4ED8,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef process fill:#EEF2F7,stroke:#475569,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef model fill:#EDE9FE,stroke:#6D28D9,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef store fill:#CCFBF1,stroke:#0F766E,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef govern fill:#FFE4E6,stroke:#BE123C,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef output fill:#DCFCE7,stroke:#15803D,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220

2. Typical Assistant Responsibilities

• Answer questions.
• Summarize documents.
• Generate drafts.
• Retrieve business-object information.
• Explain records, telemetry, or process information.
• Search grounded knowledge.
• Convert natural-language input into structured output.
• Suggest actions for the user to approve.

3. Assistant vs Agent

Assistant	Agent
Optimized around user interaction	Optimized around goal execution
Usually one user turn at a time	Can execute multiple internal steps
May call bounded tools	Selects and sequences tools dynamically
User commonly approves next step	Agent can continue within delegated scope
Output is often information/content	Output can include external actions

Tool use alone does not automatically convert an Assistant into an Agent. The key distinction is whether the runtime is dynamically controlling a multistep execution loop.

4. Recommended Assistant Configuration

Field	Purpose
name	Display and registry name
description	User-facing purpose
prompt_template_ref	Task/system instructions
model_ref	Model/provider selection
knowledge_refs	Allowed knowledge sources
tool_refs	Optional bounded tools
memory_policy	Conversation/session state policy
business_object_refs	Objects the Assistant understands or operates on
permissions	Users/groups/sites allowed to use it
ui_mode	Native, embedded, or external
implementation_ref	SDK, flow, endpoint, or app reference

5. Document-Grounded Assistant

A document-grounded Assistant follows this architecture:

flowchart TD
    Q(["User Query"]):::actor --> A[["Assistant"]]:::model
    A --> C["Resolve user + business-object context"]:::govern
    C --> R["Retrieve authorized document chunks"]:::store
    R --> F["Filter / rerank results"]:::process
    F --> P["Build grounded model context"]:::process
    P --> M[["Model Response"]]:::model
    M --> O(["Answer"]):::output
    M --> S(["Source / citation references where available"]):::output

    classDef actor fill:#DBEAFE,stroke:#1D4ED8,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef process fill:#EEF2F7,stroke:#475569,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef model fill:#EDE9FE,stroke:#6D28D9,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef store fill:#CCFBF1,stroke:#0F766E,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef govern fill:#FFE4E6,stroke:#BE123C,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220
    classDef output fill:#DCFCE7,stroke:#15803D,stroke-width:1px,color:#0B1220

The document should not be blindly inserted into every request, and document knowledge should not be confused with session history.

6. Prompt-Template Example

name: business-document-summary
purpose: Summarize a business-object document
variables:
  - document_context
  - user_question
instructions:
  - Use only the supplied authorized document context for factual claims.
  - State when the provided context is insufficient.
  - Return a concise summary followed by key findings.
output:
  format: structured_markdown

7. Execution Example

Requirement: "Summarize the latest engineering specification assigned to this object and explain the major changes."

Recommended classification:

• Type: Assistant
• Knowledge: business-object document scope
• Tool: document retrieval
• Model: configurable
• Human involvement: active
• External side effects: none

8. When Not to Use an Assistant

Do not use an Assistant as the primary type when the requirement is:

• "Find the issue, decide the remediation, create tasks, and follow through." -> Agent.
• "Every night copy records and notify owners." -> Automation.
• "Continuously operate until the objective is satisfied." -> Autonomous mode.