Build with io
io is the AI assistant in the Vectara Console for building with Vectara. Describe what you want in plain language, ask questions about your account or Vectara APIs, and move from an idea to an editable agent draft.
io is designed to help you become effective across the Vectara platform, regardless of your level of expertise or familiarity with the platform. It helps you scope an agent, choose an existing corpus, inspect available resources, propose related setup, and open supported resources in the workspace.
io does not silently create or update agents. For agent-building requests, io proposes a draft and shows a confirmation card before anything is created. You can review the generated configuration, fix missing fields, and choose when to save.
What io can help with
io can do more than draft agents, but the behavior differs by request type.
| Request | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Build an agent | io asks clarifying questions and proposes an editable agent draft you review and save. |
| Create and edit resources | io can create and edit resources across the platform, such as agents, pipelines, and API keys. |
| Inspect your account | io can report existing agents, corpora, and tools, and answer questions about your account. |
| Configure a corpus | io can propose a corpus configuration starting point. To answer over your own content, you need a corpus with indexed data. |
| Answer API and product questions | io can explain how Vectara works and show API concepts and examples. Verify generated request and response fields against the API reference before production use. |
| Troubleshoot | io can help debug performance problems. |
| Navigate the workspace | io can open supported resources in workspace tabs. |
For example, you might ask io to set up a scheduled pipeline that ingests your docs into a corpus, investigate how an agent answered a recent query, or design an agent that uses memory across conversations.
Ask io directly to tell you what it can help with.
Review what io creates
When io is ready to create an agent, it asks you to confirm first. From the confirmation card you can Open in editor to review and adjust before saving, Apply to create the agent directly, or Cancel to dismiss.
Opening the agent draft in the editor helps you review every section under Configure before and agent is saved.
| Section | What to verify |
|---|---|
| General | Confirm the Name, Key, and Description. The key identifies the agent in API paths and cannot be changed after the agent is created. |
| Model | Confirm the Model name and JSON Parameters. io selects a model for the draft. Change it if your quality, latency, or cost requirements differ. |
| Tools and skills | Confirm each tool points to the intended resource. For a retrieval agent, open the Corpora Search tool and confirm the correct corpora are selected. |
| Steps and instructions | Read the generated instructions. Confirm they reflect the source policy, tone, citation behavior, escalation behavior, and behavior for missing answers. |
| Reminders | Add reminders only if the agent needs guidance reinforced on every turn. |
| Advanced | Review metadata, compaction, structured output, and other lower-level settings if your workflow depends on them. |
You can also click Edit JSON to inspect the generated agent definition. Use the editor sections for routine review because they expose validation errors and missing fields.
Save, preview, and operate the agent
Click Save when the draft is correct.
Until you save a new draft, the runtime tabs are unavailable. The Console shows messages such as "Save the agent to start previewing it" on the Preview, Schedules, Connectors, and Secrets tabs.
After saving, open Preview and ask a question.
The agent uses the intended corpus and tools, follows the generated instructions, handles missing information the way you specified, and returns citations when your workflow requires them. If a response is wrong, return to Configure, adjust the model, tools, or instructions, and Save again before retesting.
Use the runtime tabs to finish setup:
| Tab | Use it to |
|---|---|
| Schedules | Create recurring agent runs. |
| Connectors | Connect the agent to supported external systems. |
| Secrets | Add encrypted credentials for tools. |
Tools reference an agent secret from argument_override with {"$ref": "agent.secrets.<name>"}. If a tool calls an external service, add and verify the required secret after the agent is saved; io does not supply it for you.