Understand plan, criteria & conventions¶

The plan, criteria, and conventions commands form the structural foundation of every Dokugent agent.

dokugent plan¶

Use dokugent plan to define the step-by-step tasks your agent must perform. This command scaffolds the .plan.index.md file and individual step files inside .dokugent/data/plan/.

Each plan step represents a distinct cognitive or procedural unit. Example steps might include: - summarize_input - web_search - reason_chain - custom

You’ll fill these files with high-level intent, function breakdowns, and optional prompt templates.

dokugent criteria¶

Use dokugent criteria to define what makes a good output. These files help your agents align with user expectations and give LLMs a rubric to follow.

Criteria examples might include: - Output must be factually accurate - Response tone should be empathetic - Must include at least one source link

Dokugent will use these rules during preview and compile to validate structure and consistency.

dokugent conventions¶

Use dokugent conventions to define reusable profiles for LLMs. You can choose dev, research, writing, or define your own.

Each profile sets default values for: - model name - temperature - tool-use policy - output formatting

These profiles live in .dokugent/data/conventions/ and can be reused across multiple agents.

How They Fit Together¶

• plan outlines what the agent will do
• criteria ensures the outputs are valid and acceptable
• conventions configure how the agent thinks and behaves

Once all three are filled out, your agent is ready for a preview, where everything is stitched together for the first time.