Elastic Agent Builder: Agents
Agents are AI models (LLMs) defined with custom instructions and a set of assigned tools. Users chat with agents using natural language, in the Agent Builder UI or programmatically.
An agent parses user requests to define a goal and then runs tools in a loop to achieve that goal. The agent provides responses based on its configured tools, instructions, and behavior settings.
When you ask a question to an agent, it analyzes your request to define a specific goal. It selects the most appropriate tools and determines the right arguments to use. The agent evaluates the information returned after each action and decides whether to use additional tools or formulate a response. This iterative process of tool selection, execution, and analysis continues until the agent can provide a complete answer.
The process of tool selection, execution, and analysis consumes tokens. To understand how usage is calculated, refer to Token usage in Elastic Agent Builder.
Elastic Agent Builder includes a default agent (named Elastic AI Agent) with access to all built-in tools. You can create custom agents with custom instructions and selected tools to address specific use cases or workflows.
You can also use pre-configured built-in agents that are specialized for common use cases.
Elastic Agent Builder includes pre-configured built-in agents optimized for common use cases:
- Elastic AI Agent: The default general-purpose agent with access to all platform core tools
- Observability Agent: Specialized for logs, metrics, and traces
- Threat Hunting Agent: Specialized for security alert analysis
Built-in agents cannot be modified or deleted. To customize one, you can clone it and create a custom agent.
For the complete list of built-in agents and their assigned tools, refer to Built-in agents reference.
Create custom agents tailored to your specific needs by defining custom instructions and selecting relevant tools. Custom agents give you full control over:
- Agent behavior and personality through custom instructions
- Available tools and capabilities
- Visual appearance and organization
To learn how to create and manage custom agents, refer to Custom agents.
The Agents page provides a centralized view of all your agents. From this page you can:
- View all your agents with their names and labels
- Search for specific agents using the search bar
- Filter agents by labels using the Labels dropdown
- Create new agents using the New agent button
- Start chatting with an agent or perform other actions:
- Built-in agents: You can chat or clone built-in agents. They cannot be edited or deleted.
- Custom agents: You can chat, edit, clone, or delete custom agents.
- Built-in agents: You can chat or clone built-in agents. They cannot be edited or deleted.
The Agents API enables programmatic management of both built-in and custom agents.
For an overview, refer to Agents API.
For the complete API reference, refer to the Kibana API reference.