Tune your router agent when routing misfires
Stand up a **routing postmortem partner** — paste real first messages where coworkers picked the wrong specialist — emit **confusion matrix + charter patches + handoff discipline** — iterate **after** your Router exists ([Route intent to the right specialist agent](/tutorials/route-intent-to-the-right-specialist-agent)) — not another mega-prompt overnight.
Plus: three Admin-Agent passes — classify pasted misses into **ANSWERED_TOO_MUCH / WRONG_SPECIALIST / BLOATED_HANDOFF / REFUSE_GAP**, rewrite **Route vs Answer** boundary bullets from directory alone — <=12 lines, and draft **when humans must switch threads** rule block — one paragraph.
| Audience | Admins · Everyone |
|---|---|
| Time | ~12 min |
| Prerequisites | A live Router ([Route intent to the right specialist agent](/tutorials/route-intent-to-the-right-specialist-agent) — or equivalent thin front desk you named Router). A specialist fleet worth steering ([Create an agent from scratch](/tutorials/create-an-agent-from-scratch), [Give your agent its job description](/tutorials/give-your-agent-its-job-description)). Directory truth ([Build your agent directory](/tutorials/build-your-agent-directory)). Helpful: [Connect Slack to your agents](/tutorials/connect-slack-to-your-agents) when misses arrive in channels — paste redacted threads. |
| You'll end up with | One **Routing tune-up** log — dated markdown — **misfire excerpts → classification → instruction delta → retest prompt** — plus a thirty-day **Router charter** diff you actually pasted into Settings — still **you** prompting — nothing silently adjusts routing against live traffic without your edit. |
When a tutorial shows italic text in quotation marks, it usually mirrors a label or helper string inside Auxot. Product copy changes between releases — if something reads differently in your workspace, trust what you see on screen.
Callouts with a Worth knowing gold accent are meant as must-read context before you move on. Blockquotes that open with Tip are lighter, optional depth.
Why this matters
Routers rot when specialists multiply. The first month feels crisp; then legal spawns a sibling agent, support splits tier-one vs billing, and Router starts answering whole tickets, naming two owners, or shipping paragraph handoffs nobody pastes.
This lesson assumes Router already exists (Route intent to the right specialist agent). Here you harvest misses, label failure mode, edit Router prose once, and retest with frozen prompts: same discipline as regression packs (Catch regressions after you change an agent) but for intent classification.
Auxot does not mine Slack for routing analytics unattended. You paste misfires because you prompted: feedback themes still route through humans (Collect useful feedback on your agents) before charter edits.
Routing is product management — measure misses, then edit prose.
Quick start
- Collect five redacted misses — wrong specialist, Router answered instead of routing, and bloated bundle; strip names; keep first message intact (Connect Slack to your agents).
- Mint Routing tune-up — charter demands labels ANSWERED_TOO_MUCH, WRONG_SPECIALIST, BLOATED_HANDOFF, and REFUSE_GAP; refuse when paste empty.
- Classify batch — table: excerpt / label / suggested charter tweak; max five rows.
- Patch Router description — merge tweaks; delete contradictory bullets (Give your agent its job description).
- Frozen retest — five synthetic first messages; Router output must show single specialist or explicit two-step human rule; log Jobs (View your audit logs) when something flakes.
Done? Routing tune-up log entry v2: linked from directory Router row (Link your chat apps to your Auxot account); newcomers see routing changes on purpose.
The agent can do that?
1. Confusion matrix from snippets
Chat → Admin Agent:
Misfire excerpts (paste <=6): […]. Specialist list (names only): […]. Markdown table — rows actual excerpt / predicted label / why human unhappy — no invented quotes — **UNKNOWN** when unclear.
Why it’s non-obvious: Gut blame lands on specialists; matrix exposes Router contract bugs after you paste evidence.
2. Boundary bullet rewrite
Directory excerpt: […]. Failure labels counts: [ANSWERED_TOO_MUCH x3, WRONG_SPECIALIST x2]. Produce replacement **Answer / Route / Refuse** bullets — <=12 lines total — imperative voice — no new specialists invented.
Why it’s non-obvious: Long Router prompts become soup; tight triple boundary beats paragraphs (Route intent to the right specialist agent).
3. Human-switch rule paragraph
Two specialists tie often — draft rule — when Router must say **open thread B** vs **stay here** — <=90 words — calm — ends with escalation path — markdown.
Why it’s non-obvious: Ambiguous intents need explicit human choreography; distinct from workflow automation (Chain steps so agents hand off cleanly).
Go deeper
Split before rerouting
If Router fights recurring combo asks: split overloaded brain first (Split an overloaded agent into two); routing cannot fix mega-scope specialists.
Fleet hygiene
Monthly Router row in hygiene checklist (Automate weekly checkups on your agents); stale intent maps confuse faster than stale models.
Workflow alternative
High-volume triage boards (Run a workflow); Router stays conversational; workflows own card moves; do not merge metaphors in prose.
Scale patterns
Support fleets (Build your customer support agents), bug triage (Build your bug-report triage agents); borrow their routing tables; paste snippets; do not fork silently.
Walkthrough
Step 1: Source real misses
Ask politely; volunteer channel; reward honest paste; redact customers.
Step 2: Tag severity
Customer-visible routing mistakes P0; internal annoyance P2; fix P0 first.
Step 3: Pair retest with regression habit
Link Router edits to mini reruns (Catch regressions after you change an agent); three frozen customer-shaped prompts; must match gold behaviors.
Step 4: Announce delta
Short change note (Update your agents without breaking the team); Router v2: what teammates should expect; link directory.
Step 5: Calendar next review
Sixty days, or sooner when specialist count jumps; routing debt compounds.
What’s next
- → Route intent to the right specialist agent. If Router does not exist yet, stand it up first; then return here.
- → Build your agent directory. Routing truth follows directory truth; sync names before tuning prose.
- → Split an overloaded agent into two. When single specialists exceed charter, Router tuning cannot shrink overloaded scope.
- → Catch regressions after you change an agent. Freeze five Router probes; rerun after every charter edit.
- → Collect useful feedback on your agents. Recurring routing complaints surface themes; feed this log, not anonymous venting only.
- → Use Auxot as glue between two SaaS tools. Router fixes often pair with cross-system triggers; draw system A → Auxot → system B before secrets multiply.
Reference
- Pages in Auxot: Chat, Settings → Agents, Audit Logs → Jobs
- See also: Save rubric-scored golden tests for your agents, Use Auxot as glue between two SaaS tools, Run a workflow, Update your agents without breaking the team, Chain steps so agents hand off cleanly, Build your customer support agents, Build your bug-report triage agents, Automate weekly checkups on your agents