# Testing and improving

> Try an agent in the dashboard before it reaches a channel, and fix what it gets wrong.

Source: https://docs.runbear.io/agents/testing

Last updated: 2026-08-26

Every agent has an **Improve & Try** tab. It is a private conversation with the
agent using its real instructions, knowledge, and tools, so what you see there is
what a user in Slack would get.

## Trying the agent

Ask the questions you expect real users to ask, including the ones you are not
sure it can answer. Past sessions are listed beside the chat, so you can compare
an answer before and after a change instead of relying on memory.

Tool calls run for real. A message that asks the agent to create a ticket creates
a ticket.

## Reading a bad answer

Most failures fall into three kinds, and each has a different fix.

| What you see                        | Usual cause                                                | Where to fix it                            |
| ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Confident but wrong facts           | The source is not synced, or the answer is not in it       | [Knowledge](/agents/knowledge/overview.md) |
| Right facts, wrong shape or tone    | Instructions do not say what the answer should look like   | [Instructions](/agents/instructions.md)    |
| Did not act, or used the wrong tool | The tool is not connected, or its description is ambiguous | [Tools](/agents/tools/overview.md)         |

If the agent answers correctly here but not in Slack, the difference is usually
channel configuration rather than the agent: check what triggers it and whether
it is restricted to knowledge-grounded replies on that channel.

## After it is live

Once real conversations are running, the **Activity** and **Analytics** tabs show
what people actually ask and how they react. Activity holds the individual
conversations and the trace behind each one; Analytics aggregates them. Emoji reactions on the agent's
replies are collected as feedback, which is the cheapest signal you will get about
answer quality.

[Analytics](/administration/analytics.md)

## Related

- [Instructions](/agents/instructions.md)
- [Knowledge](/agents/knowledge/overview.md)
- [Tools](/agents/tools/overview.md)