Fix an agent that misbehaves
An agent made something up, ignored a rule, or went quiet. This page helps you find the cause quickly and fix the right thing.
Find it: Sidebar → Agents → open the agent
First: fix the prompt, or fix a setting?
Most problems are one of two kinds. Decide which before you change anything.
| If the agent… | The cause is usually… | Fix it in |
|---|---|---|
| Can't do something (never sends, never answers, never hands over) | A missing setting | Skills, Triggers, Knowledge, status |
| Can, but does it wrong (wrong tone, wrong order, breaks a rule) | The wording | Instructions |
| Says something that isn't true | Missing facts | Knowledge, plus one rule in Instructions |
Symptom → fix
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| My change doesn't show up | Not saved, or the conversation started before you saved | Click Save. Start a new conversation (in Try it live, click Restart session). |
| The agent never answers | It isn't Active, or no trigger matches | Check the status pill. Check Triggers: right number, switched on, contact filter not too narrow. |
| The Agents list says "never fired" | No trigger has matched yet | Check the trigger's phone or WhatsApp number and filters. See How triggers work. |
| Publish opens a checklist instead of going live | The go-live checklist isn't complete | Use the Fix → links, then Save. |
| It makes up prices or policies | The fact isn't in Knowledge, or the library is off | Add the fact to Knowledge, switch the library on in Knowledge, and turn on Search knowledge base. |
| It says hello twice | A greeting is written in the Instructions as well as in Greeting | Delete the greeting from the Instructions. |
| It says it did something it didn't | The skill is off, or the prompt names a skill the agent doesn't have | Look for red chips. Switch the skill on in Skills, or click Clean up under the prompt. |
| It replied "Let me get this confirmed by our team and come right back to you." | Voxido's safety net stopped a promise (a refund, a discount, "I told the team") because no matching action happened | Add a rule: "If someone asks for a refund or discount, notify the team." Make sure Notify the team is on. |
| It reads out curly braces, or leaves a blank where a name should be | A variable is mistyped or isn't a field in your workspace | Fix the red chips. Insert variables from Insert → Variables. |
| It can't send a WhatsApp template | The template isn't approved yet, or Send WhatsApp template is off | Check the template's chip (approved templates aren't red). Turn the skill on. |
| It answers in English on WhatsApp when the customer wrote in Hindi | This is how WhatsApp replies work today: Voxido tells the agent to reply in English there | On calls, set Guest language in Voice. |
| It asks for details the customer already gave | It isn't saving them | Turn on Update contact information. |
| It talks too long on calls | No length rule, or a long prompt | Add # On voice with "One or two sentences per turn." |
| It ignores one rule in a long prompt | Too many rules, or two rules that disagree | Click Review under the prompt. Remove rules Voxido already handles (see How your prompt gets built). |
| It hands over to the wrong team | The handoff role is wrong | Skills → When done, hand off to. |
| It can't read email, calendar or sheets | The agent is customer-facing, so private-data skills are removed | Advanced → Who does this agent talk to? → Internal (private), then add the skills again. |
| The wrong agent answers | Another agent has a matching trigger on the same number | Keep one trigger per number, or add contact filters so each agent gets different customers. |
Investigate in five steps
- Reproduce it. Click Try it live and say what the customer said. You'll see: whether the problem happens again.
- Read what really happened. For a real WhatsApp or call, open Sidebar → Inbox → Messages → the conversation → ⋯ → AI trace. Expand the turn. You'll see: Input received, Context retrieved, LLM call, Guardrail and Outbound sent for that turn. A Guardrail entry means the safety net changed the reply.
- Check recent changes. Open History in the agent's rail. You'll see: who changed what. A paused status or a removed skill often explains a sudden change.
- Ask for a review. Click Review under the prompt. You'll see: the Copilot lists what could go wrong, without changing anything.
- Change one thing. Save, test again, and repeat. If you made it worse, restore the earlier prompt from the versions menu. See History and versions.
Don't patch with more rules
When an agent does something odd, it's tempting to add another "NEVER do X" line. Find the cause first. A missing skill or missing fact is fixed in settings, not with more words.
Example: "The agent promised a refund"
The problem: Priya Sharma asked Brightway's helpline for a refund. The AI trace shows the reply was replaced with "Let me get this confirmed by our team and come right back to you."
Why: the agent tried to agree to the refund, but it has no authority and no action ran. Voxido's safety net replaced the reply and notified the team.
The fix: add a clear rule and the skill that goes with it:
text
# Rules
- You can't give refunds or discounts. If someone asks, notify the team with
their name and order details, then say a manager will get back to them.Turn on Notify the team, click Save, and test it with Try it live.
When to contact Voxido support
Contact support if a fresh conversation (started after your last save) still:
- names its internal tools or talks about its own rules out loud,
- asks the customer for today's date, or
- shows a reply in the AI trace that doesn't match what the customer received.
Include the contact's name, the time of the conversation and what you expected.