Agent Instructor

Agent Instructor for VS Code

A powerful VS Code extension designed to help developers create, analyze, and refine instructions for declarative AI agents.

Features

1. Analyze Instructions

Evaluates existing agent instructions for clarity and potential improvements:

• Generates a clarity score (0-100)
• Identifies ambiguous phrases
• Provides specific improvement suggestions
• Offers one-click corrections
• Visualizes analysis results with charts

2. Generate Instructions

Creates comprehensive instructions for new agents:

• Interactive agent description input
• AI-powered instruction generation
• Automatic formatting and organization
• Maintains existing content when adding new instructions
• Supports multiple instruction sets per file

Installation

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Agent Instructor"
4. Click Install

Configuration

Configure the extension in VS Code settings (File > Preferences > Settings > Extensions > Agent Instructor):

Endpoint Configuration Examples

OpenAI

{
    "agentInstructor.endpointType": "openai",
    "agentInstructor.endpointUrl": "",
    "agentInstructor.apiKey": "your-openai-api-key"
}

Azure OpenAI

{
    "agentInstructor.endpointType": "azure",
    "agentInstructor.endpointUrl": "https://your-resource.openai.azure.com/deployments/your-deployment/chat/completions?api-version=2023-07-01-preview",
    "agentInstructor.apiKey": "your-azure-api-key"
}

Usage

Analyzing Instructions

1. Open your instruction.txt file
2. Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
3. Select "Agent Instructor: Analyze Instructions"
4. Review the analysis in the sidebar:
   • Clarity Score
   • Identified Issues
   • Suggested Improvements
5. Click "Apply Correction" to implement suggestions

Generating Instructions

1. Create or open an instruction.txt file
2. Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
3. Select "Agent Instructor: Generate Instructions"
4. Enter your agent description
5. Review and edit generated instructions

Best Practices

• Keep instruction files named as instruction.txt
• Use clear, specific agent descriptions
• Review and customize generated instructions
• Regularly analyze existing instructions
• Apply suggested improvements selectively

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. API Connection Failed

   • Verify API key is correct
   • Check endpoint URL format
   • Ensure internet connectivity

2. Invalid File Type

   • Ensure file is named instruction.txt
   • Open file in editor before running commands

3. Generation/Analysis Timeout

   • Try reducing maxTokens setting
   • Check internet connection stability

Development

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/stephanbisser/agent-instructor.git
cd agent-instructor
npm install
npm run compile

Running Tests

npm run test

Release Notes

0.0.6

• Added maxTokens configuration
• Improved error handling
• Enhanced UI responsiveness

0.0.1

• Initial preview release
• Basic analysis features
• Instruction generation support

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Support

For issues and feature requests, please use the GitHub Issues page.