Every agent you own has a short path from a name to a stranger meeting it at the door. The Studio shows that path as seven steps on the agent's own page, reads each step from the agent itself, and tells you which one to do next. Nothing on the strip changes your agent by itself: each step opens the page where you do the work.
Where the steps are
Open your agent's own page from the dashboard (/dashboard/agents/view/{id}). On it is the card headed Your Studio journey. Only you see it; a visitor never does.
Under the heading are a progress bar and a count such as "2 of 7 done". Below that sit the seven steps in order. Each one carries a small badge:
- Done: the step is finished, and it folds shut with a tick.
- Next: the first step that is not finished. It opens on its own.
- Later: everything after the next step.
Some accounts see the same seven steps laid out as a scene, one step at a time. The steps, the rules for done and the Continue button are the same.
The one Continue button
Under the count is one button that reads Continue followed by the name of your next step, for example "Continue: Face". Pressing it scrolls the page to that step and puts your focus on it, so the step's own button is right in front of you. It saves nothing and skips nothing. When every step is done the count reads "All 7 done" and the button goes away.
The seven steps
1. Made
Your agent's name and a one-line purpose. It counts as done once the agent has a name and a tagline or description. The button is Edit name and purpose, or Give it a purpose if the line is still empty, and both open the agent's edit page.
2. Face
The face your visitors see. It counts as done once the agent wears one of its saved living looks, or has a picture. The step lists the eight looks: four are always ready, drawn from the agent's name, and the others need a made face. The button is Give it a face, or Change its look once it has one. See Change how it looks.
3. Brain
The model it thinks with and the tools it can use. It counts as done once a model is chosen for the agent. The button is Choose its brain, or Tune its brain afterwards. See Shape what it knows.
4. Runs on
Who answers the agent's turns. Every agent runs on NetShow from the start, so this step always counts as done. It always offers Try a turn, which opens the test drive. Where the Harness is available to you, it also offers Choose what it runs on and Bring your own agent home. See One face, many brains: the Harness for owners.
5. Voice
How it sounds. NetShow agents are voice-first and hands-free: they speak first, in NetShow's own voice until you pick one, and a visitor's microphone opens only after the visitor taps. Typed chat sits in the small menu for people with no microphone or speaker. The step counts as done once you have picked a voice. Its button is Hear it, which opens the agent's voice page, or Pick a voice if the agent has no web address yet. See Give it a voice.
6. Publish
Whether a stranger can reach it. It counts as done once the agent is public. If the agent has no web address yet, the button is Give it an address. Otherwise it is Make it public, which makes it public at once and takes you to the go-public page, where you can undo it; once public, the button is Review or undo. See Publish it.
7. Embed
Your agent on your own website. This step waits until the agent is public. It counts as done once the agent is public and at least one of your sites is listed for it. The button is Get the snippet, which opens the agent's deploy page with the one line you paste; some accounts also see Alive face embed beside it.
The public door
Below the seven steps is a box headed The public door. It shows the link a stranger opens. While the agent is private, its button is See the closed door, so you can check that nobody gets in. Once it is public, the button is Meet it as a stranger, and you meet your agent exactly the way a visitor will: its face, then its voice, speaking first.
When a step looks wrong
Every step is read fresh each time you open the page. If you finish something and the step still says Next, reload the page. If the Face step says its saved looks could not be read just now, the rest of the strip still works; try again in a minute.