How to Stop an Agent Answering Outside Its Scope

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

State the agent's scope in its instructions in Jestor.
Instruct it explicitly to say when something is not covered, rather than improvising.
Define the escalation path — a person, a form, or another channel.
Attach only the documentation relevant to its scope.
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.

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 and see how to take your company's operations to a new level of efficiency and control.

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