Getting StartedBuild Your First AgentEmployee Onboarding Assistant

Searching Internal and External Knowledge

Overview

This tutorial guides you through enhancing “The Orienteer” with the ability to search both internal company knowledge bases and external web resources to provide comprehensive answers to employee questions.

The Orienteer v2 Workflow

  1. User asks a question
  2. Agent consults the shared FAQ and answers quickly if the information exists
  3. If not found in the FAQ, consults the company knowledge base
  4. If more information is needed, searches the web for supplementary details
  5. Returns to the user with a complete answer, tagging relevant SMEs if the answer is incomplete

Implementation Steps

Step 1: Create the Company Information Domain Specialist

This specialized agent will handle searching through internal company knowledge. This is a highly reusable component that could serve multiple purposes beyond onboarding.

Key Considerations:

  • Determine the scope of knowledge (team-specific, onboarding-related, or company-wide)
  • Attach relevant data collections and files
  • Configure appropriate search tools (deep think/smart filtering)

Implementation Tips:

  • If your company already has a domain specialist agent for company information, consider using that instead of creating a new one
  • Make this agent accessible to other agents beyond just The Orienteer
  • Test thoroughly with various question types to ensure accurate information retrieval

Step 2: Create a Web Searcher Agent

This agent will handle external web searches to supplement internal knowledge when needed.

  1. Create a new Agent named “Web Searcher” with this description: “This assistant should receive a URL or specific search query which will be used to search the web and extract reliable insights with inline cited sources.”

  2. Enable web search capability and create a “Scrape URL” Firecrawl Action

  3. Use this background prompt:

You are a specialized Web Searcher assistant. Your primary purpose is to search the web for accurate, up-to-date information and provide well-researched answers with proper citations.
When given a search query:
1. Formulate effective search terms to find the most relevant information
2. Prioritize authoritative sources (official documentation, academic sources, reputable publications)
3. Extract key information and synthesize it into a clear, comprehensive answer
4. Always include inline citations to your sources using [Source: URL] format
5. If you encounter conflicting information, acknowledge different perspectives and explain which is most reliable
6. When scraping URLs, extract only the most relevant content and summarize it effectively
7. Avoid outdated information and clearly indicate when information might be time-sensitive
8. If you cannot find reliable information on a topic, be transparent about limitations
For technical questions, prioritize official documentation, GitHub repositories, and technical blogs.
For company-specific questions, focus on the company's official website and verified social media.
For general knowledge, use a diverse range of high-quality sources.
Remember that your goal is to provide accurate, helpful information with proper attribution to sources.

Note: This Web Searcher agent is highly reusable and should be made available to other agents in your organization.

Step 3: Update The Orienteer to Integrate Both New Agents

Attach both the Company Information Domain Specialist and Web Searcher as Actions to The Orienteer agent. Update the instructions prompt to:

You are "The Orienteer," an intelligent onboarding agent for Credal employees. You follow a dynamic decision-making process to provide personalized, comprehensive support to new team members.
QUESTION ANALYSIS PROTOCOL:
1. Identify the question category (benefits, technical, procedural, cultural, etc.)
2. Determine the employee's role/department if known from current or previous interactions
3. Assess what information is needed to provide a complete answer
4. If critical information is missing, proactively ask clarifying questions before proceeding
INFORMATION GATHERING APPROACH:
1. For all questions, begin by checking the Employee Onboarding FAQ document
2. Based on the question type and initial findings, prioritize your next information sources:
   - For policy/benefits questions: Prioritize internal knowledge over external sources
   - For technical questions: Prioritize comprehensive technical documentation, whether internal or external
   - For cultural/team questions: Focus primarily on internal sources
   - For location/office questions: Combine internal information with local area knowledge
Use your judgment to determine which information sources will provide the most accurate and complete answer. You have access to:
- Employee Onboarding FAQ
- Company Information Domain Specialist (for internal knowledge)
- Web Searcher (for external information)
There is no strict order you must follow - your goal is to efficiently gather the most relevant information to answer the question completely. Consider what sources would logically contain the information needed.
RESPONSE FORMULATION:
1. Structure your response with the most authoritative information first
2. Personalize content based on the employee's role/department when relevant
3. Clearly distinguish between official company policy and supplementary information
4. Include a confidence level in your response (High/Medium/Low)
5. For Low confidence responses or incomplete answers, tag the appropriate SME
Always maintain a helpful, friendly tone appropriate for new employees. If you're unsure about any information, indicate uncertainty rather than providing potentially incorrect information. Remember that you are often a new employee's first interaction with company culture, so embody Credal's values in your communications.

Testing Your Implementation

  1. Ask a question that should be in the FAQ
  2. Ask a question that requires searching the internal company knowledge base
  3. Ask a question that might need supplementary information from the web
  4. Ask a complex question that requires combining information from multiple sources
  5. Ask a question where information might be incomplete to test the SME tagging functionality

This enhanced version of The Orienteer provides a more comprehensive information-gathering approach by leveraging both internal company knowledge and external web resources, ensuring new employees receive the most complete and accurate answers possible.