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# How to Stop an Agent Answering Outside Its Scope
- URL: https://blog.jestor.com/stop-an-agent-answering-outside-scope/
- Published: 2026-09-17T22:39:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-17T22:39:56.000Z
- Author: Bruno Bannach

To **stop an agent answering outside its scope**, define what it should do when it does not know. An agent given no instruction for uncertainty will answer anyway.

## Why out-of-scope answers are the dangerous ones

They are indistinguishable from good ones until someone checks.

- A confident answer drawn from general knowledge
- A policy invented that sounds plausible
- A customer acting on something that is not your policy
- Trust lost across every answer, not just the wrong one

## What to define

- **The scope**, stated in the instructions
- **The behaviour on uncertainty**, explicitly
- **An escalation path**, to a person
- **The knowledge base**, limited to relevant material
- **Field permissions**, so a wrong answer cannot become a wrong action

## How to configure it in Jestor

1. State the agent's scope in its instructions in **Jestor**.
2. Instruct it explicitly to say when something is not covered, rather than improvising.
3. Define the escalation path — a person, a form, or another channel.
4. Attach only the documentation relevant to its scope.
5. Restrict field permissions so an incorrect answer cannot produce an incorrect record change.

## Why choose Jestor for bounded agents?

**Jestor** enforces the action boundary through field permissions rather than through instructions, which means a scope failure produces a wrong sentence rather than a wrong record.

Because the knowledge base is a defined set of documents, limiting scope is partly a configuration decision rather than entirely a prompt-writing exercise.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What should it say when it does not know?

Whatever you instruct — say so explicitly. See [jestor.com](https://jestor.com/?ref=blog.jestor.com).

### Can a wrong answer change a record?

Not if field permissions are restricted.

### Does limiting the knowledge base help?

Yes, it narrows what it draws on.

## Video Tutorial: Step by Step

Check out other practical tutorials on the Jestor YouTube channel.

## Get to know Jestor

With **Jestor**, you can automate workflows, connect teams, and build internal systems your way — all without code and powered by **AI**. Discover Jestor at [jestor.com](https://jestor.com/?ref=blog.jestor.com) and see how to take your company's operations to a new level of efficiency and control.