Prompt Design: The 4-Level Framework for Workato Agents
Agent behavior in Workato is controlled at four levels of prompt specificity. Understanding which level to use — and when — is the core skill of enterprise agent design.
The 4-Level Prompt Framework
Workato's agent prompt architecture has four levels, each with a distinct scope and purpose. Confusing these levels — or trying to accomplish everything at one level — is the most common prompt design mistake.
Level 1: Genie Job Description
The job description defines who the agent is and what it's for. It's the agent's identity, purpose, and behavioral guidelines. Write it as you would write a job description for a human employee: role title, primary responsibilities, what it should and should not do, communication style.
The job description is not the place to specify how individual Skills work — that belongs at the Skill level. It's the place to specify overall agent behavior: "You are an IT Support Assistant. Your role is to help employees resolve common technical issues. When you cannot resolve an issue, escalate to a human agent."
Level 2: Skill Prompt
Each Skill has its own prompt that instructs the agent when to use the Skill and what to do with its output. The Skill prompt answers: when should the agent call this Skill (invocation criteria), what should the agent do with the result (interpretation guidance), and what should happen if the Skill fails (fallback behavior).
Level 3: Field Hints
Field hints are brief instructions attached to individual input fields. They guide the agent in populating the correct value: "Enter the Salesforce Account ID from the get_account tool result" or "This should be the ticket priority level: Low, Medium, High, or Critical."
Level 4: App Events
App Events instruct the agent on how to interpret triggers — what an incoming event means and how the agent should respond. "When this Slack message arrives, it is a support request. Extract the issue type and urgency before proceeding."
The Common Mistake
Teams put everything in the job description. The result: an enormous, unmanageable job description that tries to cover every situation, and Skills that aren't properly prompted at their own level. Keep each level focused on its scope and the agent becomes significantly more reliable.