Creating an Environment
Every agent lives in an environment, so an organisation needs one before it can build anything. The first environment is created from the product landing page, and every later one from the environment switcher. Both ask the same three questions: a name, a type and an optional description.
Before You Start
- You need the Admin or Organisation Admin role. Both can create environments.
- Decide what the environment is for, because that decides its type. The type can be changed later.
Creating the First Environment
While an organisation has no environments, selecting Agentic in the sidebar opens the product landing page.
- Select Get started. The page Set up your first environment opens.
- Enter a Name, for example "Clinic pilot".
- Choose a Type. Sandbox is selected by default, because a first environment is usually for trying things out.
- Optionally, select Add a description and fill in Description (optional).
- Select Create Environment.
The environment opens on its Agents page, and "Environment created successfully." confirms it. Select Cancel instead to go back to the landing page without creating anything.
Creating Another Environment
- Open the environment switcher at the top of the Agentic sub navigation.
- Select Create environment at the bottom of the list.
- In the Create Environment dialog, enter a Name, choose a Type, and optionally add a description.
- Select Create Environment.
Agentic switches straight to the new environment and opens its Agents page.
The Fields
| Field | Required? | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | Shown in the environment switcher and wherever the environment is listed. Must be unique in the organisation, ignoring capitals and spaces at either end |
| Type | Yes | Sandbox, UAT or Production. The line under the picker explains the selected type |
| Description | No | What the environment is for. Select Add a description to show the field |
Choose a name that says what the environment holds rather than repeating its type, for example "Clinic pilot" or "Clinics Australia". The type is already shown beside the name.
Choosing a Type
| Type | Choose it when |
|---|---|
| Sandbox | Trying out an idea or a first draft. "For experimenting. Nothing here reaches customers." |
| UAT | The team needs to test an agent properly before customers meet it. "For testing with your team before agents reach customers." |
| Production | Customers will reach the agents. "Customers reach the agents in this environment." |
The type describes an environment's purpose. It does not stop a published agent from answering calls on its phone number, even in a Sandbox. Keep the numbers customers dial on Production agents only.
When Something Goes Wrong
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Name is required | Enter a name, then create again |
| An environment with this name already exists | Pick another name. Names are compared without regard to capitals |
| Failed to create environment. Please try again. or Failed to save environment. Please try again. | Nothing was saved. Try again, and if it keeps failing, reload the page |
| Create Environment stays greyed out in the dialog | The name is missing or already taken. Fix the name and the button becomes available |
What Happens Next
A new environment has no agents and no settings. Its Getting started checklist appears in the sub navigation, starting with building an agent.
- Quickstart. Build the first agent in the environment
- Switching and Managing Environments. Move between environments, edit and delete them
- Settings. Connect Twilio for this environment, for Organisation Admins