What is an SOP for an AI agent?
An SOP (standard operating procedure) is the written way your business does one job: who does it, the steps, and what to do when a step fails. An agent needs that document or it will invent a process.
Also called: standard operating procedure, runbook, playbook
In plain English
If the process lives in your head, the model will write a generic version. The SOP hub on this site is the longer version of this idea: write it, then automate the parts that do not need judgment. Read the SOP out loud while you do the job once. Every time you say 'well, except when,' add the exception or admit the page is a wish. The agent will not hear the except. Number the steps. Name the person who may skip one. If step four is 'use judgment,' say what the judgment is about, or delete the step and leave it human. Ask a new hire to follow the page without you hovering. Their stuck point is the sentence you still need to write. If they invent a step, the page was missing it. Have the closer follow it during a rush, then mark every shrug with a pencil. Mark the margin on a Saturday.
How an owner would use it
Write the SOP in plain steps a new person could follow. Then decide which steps are a template, which are a draft from AI, and which stay human. Review one SOP a week when reality disagreed with the page.
Common mistakes
An SOP written once and never opened is fan fiction. A runbook or playbook is the same idea. The agent will follow the stale page with confidence. Do not ask a model to invent the SOP from a one-line prompt and then automate that invention. Write the steps a new hire could do, including the failure case. If the document does not say who may waive a fee, the agent must not waive one. Review a page when reality disagreed with it, not on a calendar nobody keeps.
A worked example
A plumbing company
Invoice mailing, written down
This is an illustration, not a customer result. The owner writes the invoice SOP: when it goes out, the reminder days, and who may waive a fee. The agent may draft reminder two from that page. It may not invent a fee schedule.
Related terms
Prompts and guides
Questions owners ask
What is an SOP?
An SOP is the written procedure for one business job, specific enough that someone who was not there can do it.
How do I use an SOP with AI?
Give the assistant the SOP as the source. Let it draft inside those steps. Update the SOP when the draft keeps getting corrected for the same reason.
Should every SOP be automated?
No. Write it first. Automate only the steps that do not need judgment, such as a reminder from an approved template. Leave exceptions as a human step named in the SOP.
The automation glossary also defines SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). Product guides are on AI apps for business.