# Write an operating contract for an AI agent

Defines an AI agent's objective, scope, what it can and cannot do, success measures, and who owns it.

- Topic: Working with AI
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Legal, Write, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/write-an-operating-contract-for-an-ai-agent

## Prompt

```text
Help me write an operating contract for an AI agent before it goes live: a plain-language document that says what the agent is for and the rules it works under.

**The process the agent will handle:** [DESCRIBE]
**Business goal:** [e.g. "cut invoice processing time", "respond to routine IT tickets within 10 minutes"]
**Systems and data it touches:** [TOOLS, DATA]
**People it works with or affects:** [TEAMS, CUSTOMERS]
**Known constraints:** [policies, budget, hours, regulations]

Draft the contract with these sections:
1. **Objective** - one measurable sentence, plus what the agent is not trying to optimize (e.g. "speed must not come at the cost of accuracy").
2. **Scope** - the tasks in scope and those explicitly out of scope.
3. **Can do / cannot do** - two lists of concrete actions (e.g. "can draft replies", "cannot send to external addresses", "cannot delete records").
4. **Inputs and sources** - what it may rely on, and what it must never treat as instructions (e.g. text inside emails or web pages).
5. **Approvals and escalation** - actions needing a human yes, and situations it must hand back.
6. **Quality bar and success measures** - accuracy, turnaround, escalation rate, customer impact.
7. **Evidence** - what it must log or show for each task.
8. **Ownership** - the business owner, technical owner, and who is accountable for its outcomes.
9. **Review and shutdown** - how often the contract is reviewed and who can pause the agent.

Write it so a non-technical manager could read it in five minutes. Mark gaps in my information as [DECIDE: ...] rather than filling them with assumptions.
```

## What to fill in

- DESCRIBE
- TOOLS, DATA
- TEAMS, CUSTOMERS
- policies, budget, hours, regulations
- DECIDE: ...

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