---
schema_version: "1"
id: c89c418a29ded013e49756a54e28cfe6a3babd8b19a3c98d92674462c81c65d7
title: Create a Custom Agent with AI Assistance
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/ai/264-0-0/copilot_create_gen_ai_agent.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.copilot_create_gen_ai_agent.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: f75338f2e445ebcb8b17896881a9eaaeaa62d9099b346df44678d68e3f59e3fd
description: Use AI assistance to create a custom Agentforce Service agent for your business.
products:
  - Agentforce
  - Cross Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Create a Custom Agent with AI Assistance

Use AI assistance to create a custom Agentforce Service agent for your business.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions. <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_setup_explore_types.htm&amp;release=264.0.0&amp;type=5" title="Learn about agent types and default templates for specific clouds and common use cases.">Required add-on licenses vary by agent type.</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
          <col style="width:50%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d56596e78">User Permissions Needed</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d56596e78 ">To create a custom agent:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d56596e78 ">Manage AI Agents AND <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_setup_explore_types.htm&amp;type=5&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">the required permissions for your agent
                type</a></td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

Before you begin, [set up Einstein Generative AI](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.generative_ai_enable.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Set up Einstein generative AI to get access to powerful generative AI features.") and [enable Agentforce](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_setup_enable.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Turn on Agentforce to start building, customizing, testing, and launching AI agents.").

## Create a Custom Agent

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-ai-generative_ai-264-0-0-production-enus/f8ef6498-d7b2-44e3-9b34-ffd5a850aae9/images/icon_note.png)

Note Save often when working on your agent.

1. From the App Launcher, find and select Agentforce Studio, then click **Agents**.
2. To create an agent, click **New**.
3. Describe what you want your agent to do. Include details like the agent’s role and the type of company that it works for, the types of tasks you want it to complete, and any other information critical to its job. Then click ![Arrow icon](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-ai-generative_ai-264-0-0-production-enus/f8ef6498-d7b2-44e3-9b34-ffd5a850aae9/generative_ai/images/agent_builder_arrow_icon.png).
4. Answer Agentforce’s questions to further flesh out your agent. You can also choose to start from scratch and fill in all of the details yourself by clicking **Skip Ahead**. After it has enough information, Agentforce starts off your agent with agent details, system messages, subagents, and more.
5. Review the agent settings Agentforce selected for you. Update the name, API name, description, system messages, and languages as needed. These settings help determine how agents behave and present themselves in conversations.
6. Under Agent Details, select or create an **Agent's User Record** for this agent.
    
    To securely access data and perform actions, Service agents operate as an agent user, or a Salesforce integration user with all the permissions that the agent needs to do its job. See [Best Practices for Agent User Permissions](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_user.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Learn how Agentforce Service agents control data access. Set up an agent user for your Agentforce Service agent and assign permissions, so your agent has everything it needs to do its job.").
7. Review the subagents and actions Agentforce created for you. Click the arrow next to each subagent in the Explorer to browse the subagent configuration page and actions for that subagent. Customize or remove the actions and subagents to best suit your needs.
8. Add or create more subagents and actions to further personalize your agent. See [Create a Custom Subagent](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_topics_add_custom.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "You can create a custom subagent from the asset library or from within an agent in Agentforce Builder. When you create a subagent from the asset library, it’s available to add to multiple agents and versions. When you create a subagent from within an agent in Agentforce Builder, it’s available only to that agent.") and [Create a Custom Action](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_actions_custom.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "You can create a custom action from the asset library or from within an agent in Agentforce Builder. When you create an action from the asset library, it’s available to add to multiple agents and versions. When you create an action from within an agent in Agentforce Builder, it’s available only to that agent.") for more details.
9. Click **Preview** to test out your agent and confirm that it performs as expected and meets your security standards. You can simulate your agent’s behavior with mock data without risking any changes to your actual data or org. Use trace to dig into the steps the agent performed, and ask Agentforce to help you understand your agent’s behavior at any step. See [Preview and Test in Agentforce Builder](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_preview_and_test.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Manual testing, like you do in Agentforce Builder, is the starting point for validating your agent’s performance. It offers a detailed, step-by-step evaluation of your agent's interactions and utterances and is especially effective for confirming configurations and exploring how the agent responds to different inputs. Throughout the agent lifecycle, plan to revisit manual testing in Agentforce Builder, especially after making changes to your agent.") for more details.
10. Review and customize the Messaging settings Agentforce selected for you. See [Connect an Agent to Messaging](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_parent_deploy_messaging.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Route conversations to your Agentforce Service agents and Agentforce Employee agents with messaging channels, including Enhanced Chat and other enhanced messaging channels. Learn how to use context variables, multiple languages, and progess indicators in messaging channels.") for more information on deploying your agent to a Messaging channel.
11. When you’re ready to use your agent outside of the builder, click **Commit Version**. You must commit an agent version before you can activate it. Committed versions can’t be edited. To continue making changes after committing, create a new version by clicking **New Draft**. See [Versioning and Editing Agents](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_versions_lifecycle.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Learn about the different states of agents as you create and iterate on your agents, including editable states and how to version your agent.") for more information.
12. When you’re ready to make your agent available to your customers, activate it. See [Activate or Deactivate an Agent](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.copilot_setup_activate_deactivate.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5) for more information.

## Create a Custom Agent in the Legacy Agentforce Builder

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-ai-generative_ai-264-0-0-production-enus/f8ef6498-d7b2-44e3-9b34-ffd5a850aae9/images/icon_note.png)

Note Starting the week of July 13, 2026, you can no longer create agents in the legacy Agentforce Builder in Setup. Instead, create an agent in Agentforce Builder in Agentforce Studio. Or [upgrade an agent](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_setup_create_upgrade.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Create a new version of an agent from the legacy Agentforce Builder in Setup in the new Agentforce Builder in Agentforce Studio, with just a few clicks. The new version contains all of the original agent's subagents, actions, system messages and settings, data, and connections, converted to Agent Script. Upgrading an agent doesn't affect the original agent in the legacy builder. You can continue to access and edit the agent in the legacy builder.") from the legacy builder to the new builder.

For the latest features and enhancements, we recommend migrating existing agents from the legacy builder to the new builder. [Learn more.](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.agent_migrate_parent.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "If you’re an Agentforce customer using agents you built in our legacy builder, this guide is for you. It’s a centralized resource for migrating your existing agents from the legacy Agentforce Builder in Salesforce Setup to the new Agentforce Builder in the Agentforce Studio app. It helps you decide if, why, and how to migrate, and it covers the tools and guidance you need to make your migration cost- and time-effective. Use it to go from a prompt-based, sometimes unpredictable agent to a precise, reliable agent that reasons when it has to and just gets things done when it doesn’t.")

1. From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Agent and select **Agentforce Agents**.
2. Click **New Agent**.
3. Click **Create with Gen AI**.
4. Describe the job you want the agent to do. Be as specific as you can, as the details help gen AI create a more tailored agent. Click **Next**.
5. Check the name of your agent and the role to make sure they're accurate.
6. Add your company name.
7. Describe your company.
8. Add the agent user and decide whether you want to include conversation data in the event log. Click **Next**.
9. Review the list of subagents. If you want to generate another subagent, click **Add Draft Subagent** and provide the name and description before saving the subagent. Click **Next**.
10. Search for and select the data library that you want your agent to reference and add the details.
11. Click **Create**.
12. [Add actions to each of your subagents](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ai.copilot_actions_add.htm&language=en_US).
13. Activate your agent. To make changes later, deactivate the agent.