Guides

Each guide follows one real task, from the question users ask to an answer you’ve checked. The first four add tools, and each one puts a rule of good tools into practice. The last shows how to find out why an answer went wrong.

The guides build on Set up the Assistant: the Assistant service, its tool catalog, and the ZZ_ASSISTANT_HR application service. They add operations to ZZ_ASSISTANT_HR, and to ZZ_ASSISTANT_FIN for purchasing, and the custom training request system from the AI Assist guides appears as an example page.

Add a tool for pending approvalsTell managers what's waiting for them, returning counts rather than people's details.

Help users find the right pageAnswer where-do-I questions with PeopleSoft's navigation search, which checks access.

Explain a field with a Magic ButtonBuild describe_field on PeopleTools metadata, in the user's language, and add the button.

Look up a record by its IDFind a requisition the user names, without revealing ones they can't see.

Trace a wrong answerFollow a turn through the audit log, find the cause, fix it, and keep it fixed.

Every tool gets the same checks

• A user with access asks the question, and the answer matches the page it links to.
• A user without access asks the same question, and gets a clear no, not someone else’s data.
• The audit log shows the tool calls you expected, with the arguments you expected.

Tips to share with users

• Ask one thing at a time. “How many vacation hours do I have?” works better than a list of questions in one message.
• Use the names you see on pages, and IDs when you have them, such as “requisition 0000012345”.
• Say the period for anything with dates, such as “this year” or “since June”.
• Use Magic Buttons for questions about a field, so you don’t have to say which page you’re on.
• Follow the links to make changes. The Assistant can’t change anything; its links take you to the page where you can.
• Report wrong answers with the time you asked. The team can find the conversation in the audit log, and fix what went wrong.