Joule agents represent the next evolution of enterprise automation — intelligent, autonomous systems that plan, reason, and act across multiple tools and systems to achieve complex goals.
While Joule Skills execute predefined, deterministic operations, Joule agents handle multi-step, adaptive workflows, deciding what to do, when, and how based on business context and user intent.
Functioning as orchestration layers, Joule agents combine analytical reasoning with real-time decision-making. They use Large Language Models (LLMs) to interpret user requests, dynamically select relevant tools (including Joule Skills), and generate contextual responses — enabling goal-oriented, conversational automation.
Each Joule Agent is built around four key cognitive abilities:
Planning – The agent determines the best sequence of actions to achieve a business goal, orchestrating multiple tools or Joule Skills as needed.
Reflection – The agent evaluates its own steps, identifies errors or missing data, and self-corrects to reach the desired outcome.
Tool Usage – The agent dynamically invokes SAP Build Actions, Joule Skills, or other APIs to perform operations, retrieve data, or trigger systems.
Collaboration – Agents can cooperate with other agents or human users, engaging in dialogue, confirmation, or validation when business logic requires oversight.
Joule Skills vs Agents
While Joule Skills define what actions can be performed (e.g., analyze workloads or simulate optimizations), the Joule Agent defines how these skills are orchestrated in a conversational, goal-driven workflow.
This agent:
Combines multiple Joule Skills into an intelligent flow.
Makes autonomous decisions based on data and context.
Communicates naturally with warehouse supervisors.
In short, this is where your Logistics Agent scenario becomes fully functional.
Joule agents also enable the use of the following tools and capabilities which are not available via skills.
Document Grounding: You can have AI Core index or “embed” a set of documents and use them as context inside your agent.
MCP Servers: You can connect your agent to MCP servers and use their tools inside your agent.
LLM Settings: You can specify which LLMs you want to use, and set whether you want addition pre- and post-processing when the agent is figuring out what to do.
Step 1Create empty agent
—
Select the Overview tab.
Click Create, and choose Joule Agent.
Empty agent
In the Create Joule Agent dialog, enter the following details:
Field
Value
Name
Agent for Logistics
Description
An agent to create OR update OR track shipments in GTT system, as well as to offer carrier options for shipments
Click Create.
Name agent
Once the Joule agent is created, you are taken to the agent builder.
Agent builder
Step 2Add expertise, instructions and context
+
An agents expertise, instructions and context are text-based information that tells the agent what to do and how to act.
Expertise defines the agent’s professional identity and field of knowledge. This tells the agent which general business area it is operating in, such as finance, human resources, or supply chain. Your input here will help shape the agent’s overall tone, vocabulary, and scope.
Instructions specify the agent’s core goal, rules, and constraints. This is the most critical part, as it dictates what the agent should accomplish. It directs the agent’s behavior by providing guardrails and setting its primary objective.
Context allows you to feed the agent more specific, relevant, and potentially evolving information. It can help the agent make more nuanced decisions and produce more accurate results.
In the agent builder, enter the following for the Expertise section:
Text
Executes shipment creation and updates, retrieves tracking details, identifies delayed shipments, and presents carrier options according to the corporate Carrier Selection Guide.
Take a minute to look over the text and understand why this information is in the expertise.
Enter the following for the Instructions section:
Text
You are responsible for handling logistics-related user requests involving shipments and carriers. You must determine which action to take based on the user’s input. Select and execute the appropriate tool autonomously according to the rules below.
1. Create Shipment
Use the tool “Create Shipment” when the user asks to create a new shipment or provide shipment details. If required details are missing, request them from the user by listing only the required fields as a table with their descriptions -- do not ask for carrier. Once the shipment is created or updated, display the message returned by the tool.
Examples of relevant prompts:
“Create a shipment for this order.”
“I need to ship the goods.”
“Start a new shipment.”
2. Suggest Carrier Options
If the user asks for carrier suggestions, use the document “Carrier Selection Guide.docx” to present all available carrier options. Display the list of carriers for the user to view as a simple table, displaying only the name of the carrier and the price.
Let the user decide which carrier they want to use and then ask the user for the Shipment ID and Carrier they to update the shipment with using the 'Create Shipment' tool. all other values of the shipment remain unchanged.
Examples of relevant prompts:
“Show me available carriers.”
“Suggest a carrier for this shipment.”
"Update the shipment <shipment id> with the carrier <carrier> "
“Use UPS for this shipment.”
3. Track Shipment
If the user requests shipment tracking information, trigger the Track Shipment tool. Show the fields serviceAgentLbnId with label "Carrier", the field creationDateTime field with date converted to local time and formatted to MMM DD, YYYY HH:MM with timezone and the field with label "Creation Date", then show fields source location and the destination.
Examples of relevant prompts:
“Track shipment 12345.”
“Where is my delivery?”
“Show the current status of the shipment.”
4. Delayed Shipments
If the user asks to see delayed shipments, execute the Delayed Shipments tool directly. Display the tool’s output exactly as received.
Examples of relevant prompts:
“Show me all delayed shipments.”
“List shipments that are late.”
“Any deliveries behind schedule?”
5. Tool Selection Logic
The user may request actions in any order (e.g., tracking first, then creating, or selecting carriers afterward).
Take a few minutes to look over the text and understand why it is constructed this way.
Enter the following for the Additional Context section:
Text
Maintain a professional, clear, and courteous tone throughout all communications. Ensure every response is precise, concise, and free from ambiguity. Use straightforward language, avoid unnecessary details, and never use vague or ambiguous wording. If any information is missing or unclear, politely ask the user for clarification instead of making assumptions.
You are an operational logistics assistant supporting shipment creation, carrier coordination, and delivery visibility. Your responses should reflect efficiency, accuracy, and execution reliability.
When displaying carrier options, ensure usability by presenting them as a table and offering selectable options directly within the interface (Select/checkbox).
**Example Communication**
User: "Can you show me available carriers?"
Agent: "Here are the available carriers for your shipment. Please select one from the table below."
User: "Update the shipment with UPS."
Agent: "Please provide the Shipment ID to update the carrier to UPS."
User: "Track shipment 12345."
Agent: "Tracking details for shipment 12345: [display tracking information]."
Take a minute to look over the text and think of anything else you might want to add.
Step 3Set the models and settings
+
For the agent, you can select the LLM you want to use, plus additional settings about the AI should work.
Models
Choose the Model Settings options as follows:
Field
Value
LLM provider
OpenAI
Base Model
GPT4o
Advanced Model
GPT4o
Enable Backup LLM Provider
Toggle Off
Keep the settings under Agent Execution Steps as they are.
Step 4Add skills as tools
+
Agents need at least one tool. Tools are the way agents perform tasks to fulfill their instructions.
In the Tools section, click Add Tool, and then Joule Skill.
Add skills
In the Add Tool dialog, select all the skills, and then click Add.
Select skills
The tools will be added under Tools.
Skills added
Step 5Add document grounding as tool
+
Document grounding allows you to “index” a set of documents located in a repository, such as the SAP BTP Object Store service, so that the information can be fed into Joule alongside an LLM. Document grounding can be added as context for an Joule Studio agent.
For this CodeJam, we have created a small document with pairs of start and destination locations (airport codes) and the price for sending a shipment on that route.
Document
This document has been uploaded to an Object Store service and destinations have already been set up to the Object Store as well as an AI Core instance, which is what chunks and embeds the documents for use in AI.
In the Tools section, click Add Tool, and then Documents.
Add document
In the Add Tool dialog, enter the following.
Field
Value
Tool name
Carrier Selection Guide
Description
Internal guidelines required by the agent to select cheapest carrier based on the costs provided in the document. It covers the carrier selection guide as a table with all possible carriers for the given source and destination location.
Resource Group
Select AI163
(The name might be different; ask your instruictor.)
Click Add.
Document added
The document grounding will be added as a tool to the agent.
Document added
Click Save (upper right).
In this CodeJam, we will not set up Document Grounding. But here is some information about the process.
An admin sets up an instance of the AI Core service in SAP BTP, which can break down a set of documents so an LLM can make use of the information.
An admin sets up a document store, for example the Object Store service in SAP BTP.
An admin sets destinations for both AI Core and Object Store, using a additional property so they are available for use in Joule Studio for setting up document grounding.
An admin goes to the Control Tower > Document Grounding tile and specifies which AI Core to use to index the documents and from which Object Store to take the documents. After a minute or two of “embedding” the documents, the document grounding is available for use in Joule Studio.
You can tell Joule to display the agent response as is, or ask Joule to take that information and format as it sees fit. Let’s let Joule reformat the agent response.
Scroll to the bottom of the agent and toggle on the setting Allow Joule to interpret the output of the agent.
Click Save (upper right).
Let Joule do
Step 7Disable direct triggering of skills
+
Sometimes you want to control how skills are used, both the input and the output, and want only an agent to call the skill, since the agent can take the output and further manipulate it.
That is what we will do here.
For each of the 3 skills:
Open the skill.
Click the Trigger step.
Toggle off the setting Allow skill to be started directly by a user.
Click Save (upper right).
Toggle trigger
Important: Remember to do this for all 3 skills.
Step 8Remove messages from Track Shipment skill
+
Unfortunately, it seems if a skill has a confirmation message and is triggered from an agent, Joule will fail.
So now that we want our track shipment skill to be triggered from an agent, we need to remove the confirmation message.
Open the Track Shipment skill.
Move the getReadquery action just after the trigger, and then delete the confirmation and status message.
Fix skill
The skill should now look like this:
Fix skill
Click Save (upper right).
Step 9Questions to ponder
+
When we created the shipment with the agent, why did we not get those messages we created in the Create Shipment skill?
Why would I not want a skill to be called directly?
Share feedback on this tutorial or join the conversation in SAP Community.
Submit detailed feedbackDiscuss in Community
Steps
Step 1 of 9
1. Create empty agent2. Add expertise, instructions and context3. Set the models and settings4. Add skills as tools5. Add document grounding as tool6. Let Joule format output7. Disable direct triggering of skills8. Remove messages from Track Shipment skill9. Questions to ponder
Joule
AI Notice
Joule is an AI assistant. Generative AI may produce inaccurate, incomplete, or biased information. Always verify important details before acting on them.
Conversations are sent to SAP-hosted large language models for processing. Do not include personal data, credentials, or confidential information in your messages.
Joule's responses are based on the SAP tutorial catalog and may not reflect the latest product changes. For authoritative guidance, consult the linked tutorials and official SAP documentation.
