Agents and Publishing
Common questions about building agents, what their statuses mean, testing a draft, and publishing changes.
What Is the Difference Between a Frontline and a Background Agent?
A Frontline agent is a voice agent that answers inbound calls, and its sessions are called Calls. A Background agent works on text and data when another system, a flow or another agent calls it, and its sessions are called Runs. See Frontline and Background Agents.
Can I Change an Agent's Type After Creating It?
No. The type is fixed when the agent is created, and in the builder it cannot be changed once IQ starts building. To switch, build a new agent of the other type. See Frontline and Background Agents.
Do I Have to Use IQ to Build an Agent?
No. Set it up by hand under the description box, or Configure manually on an empty Agents page, opens a blank editor instead. Both routes produce the same kind of agent. See Starting a Blank Agent.
Can I Change the Description After IQ Has Built the Agent?
Yes, with Edit description on the Describe Your Agent step. Selecting Next afterwards rebuilds the agent, which clears IQ's answers and any changes made since. See Changing the Description Later.
Is My Draft Saved If I Leave the Builder?
Yes, once IQ has started building. "Saved as a draft. You can continue it from Agents." confirms it, and the draft's card or Continue button picks it up again. A description that has not been sent yet is not saved. See Leaving the Builder.
Why Does My Agent Open in the Builder Instead of Its Agent Page?
The agent has never been published. The agent page, with its Metrics, Sessions, Playground and Quick Config tabs, only opens once an agent has been published at least once, so a draft reopens in the builder or the editor. See Opening an Agent.
What Is the Difference Between Live and Ready?
Live is a published, enabled Frontline agent with a phone number pointed at it. Ready is a published, enabled agent with nothing outstanding, which is the normal state for a Background agent and, for a Frontline agent, means it has no phone number yet. See Agent Statuses.
What Does Unpublished Changes Mean?
The agent is published, and its draft has edits that have not been published yet. Callers are still on the live version until those edits are published. See Agent Statuses.
Does Editing a Published Agent Affect Callers?
No. Every edit goes into the draft, and callers and integrations keep reaching the live version until the draft is published. See Draft and Live.
Should I Use Quick Config or the Full Editor?
Use Quick Config to change a setting on a published agent and publish it quickly. Use the full editor for writing instructions, testing and working with IQ. Both edit the same draft, so a change in one shows up in the other. See Quick Config.
Can I Publish Without Testing?
Yes. The checklist marks the agent Not Tested, but publishing is still allowed. A short test in the playground catches most problems before callers meet them. See Step 4: Publish.
Why Is Publish Unavailable?
On a draft, something on the publish checklist is still needed, and hovering over Publish lists what is left. On a published agent, the draft has no changes to publish. See Header Actions.
Why Do I Have to Hold the Publish Button?
Pressing and holding Hold to Publish until it completes stops an accidental click from putting an agent live. See Publishing for the First Time.
What Happens to Calls in Progress When I Publish?
They finish on the version they started on, so nobody is cut off mid-call. The new version applies from the next call. See Warnings on the Publish Review.
What Does "Version N Was Published After This Draft Started" Mean?
Someone published a newer version while you were editing the draft. Publishing your draft replaces their version, including any of their changes that are not in your draft, so compare the two first. See Warnings on the Publish Review.
Can I Go Back to an Earlier Version?
Yes. Restore To Draft in Version History copies an earlier version into the draft, which you then check and publish as a new version. Restoring replaces whatever is in the draft and does not publish anything by itself. See Restoring an Earlier Version.
Does Discarding the Draft Affect Other People?
Yes. The draft is shared, so discarding it removes everyone's unpublished changes on that agent. Version history is not affected. See Discarding the Draft.
Someone Else Changed the Draft While I Was Editing
In the editor, select Reload on "Someone else changed this draft" to pick up their version, which replaces anything you changed since your last save. In Quick Config, the save bar offers Compare, Reload Draft or Overwrite. See When Someone Else Changes the Draft and When the Save Bar Needs Attention.
Can a Published Agent Work Without a Phone Number?
Yes. A Frontline agent without a number can be reached by its Agent ID from your own telephony, and a Background agent never uses a number. See What Happens Next and the developer docs.
Why Can't I Find an Agent by Its ID in Search?
Search agents matches an agent's name, description and phone number, not its agent ID. See Searching Agents.
Do Tools Run for Real in the Playground?
Yes. No customer sees a playground conversation, but the agent's tools call your real systems, so a booking made there is a real booking. Test tools that change data against test records, or in a Sandbox environment. See Playground.
Why Doesn't My Agent Have a Playground Tab?
The Playground tab is on the agent page, which only opens once an agent has been published. Before the first publish, test from the builder or with the test panel in the editor. See Testing Before You Publish.
Do Playground Tests Count in an Agent's Metrics?
Yes. Every test is saved as an Evaluate session and is included in Metrics alongside live sessions. Filter the Sessions tab to Live to see real traffic only. See What a Playground Session Records.
Why Does a Session Say Not Scored?
Scoring happens a little after a session ends, so a session that finished in the last few moments shows Not scored for a short time. A text playground run is only summarised and scored once it ends, when you select New run or leave the Playground tab. See Scores.
What Is the Difference Between Disabling and Deleting an Agent?
Disabling switches the agent off and keeps its settings and versions, so it can be switched back on later. Deleting removes the agent and its draft, its sessions, metrics and version history can no longer be opened from the Admin app, and it cannot be undone. See Disabling an Agent and Deleting an Agent.
Can a Connected AI App Publish My Agent?
No. A connected app with build access can update an agent, but its changes land in the draft, and a person reviews and publishes them in the Admin app. See Changes From Connected AI Apps.