Guide: How the agent decides Needs reply
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/ai-agents/how-the-agent-decides-needs-reply
Topic: AI agents
Time: about 2 minutes
Who can do it: Owner, Administrator or Manager
Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)
Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/settings/agents
Result when done: You control what counts as a question worth answering on your page.
Context: The Needs reply chip is the agent judgement, and it is driven by one prompt you can read and change. It also decides what an agent in auto mode will answer, so it is worth a minute of your time.

Before you start:
1. The chip appears whether the agent is Off, drafting or replying.
2. It is also a filter in the inbox, so it decides what your team works on.
3. The prompt is plain text and is yours to change.

Steps:
Step 1 of 3: Find Intent detection.
Where: On the agent, near the FAQ pairs. The line under it says this prompt decides whether a comment is labelled Needs reply.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/settings/agents (Open AI agents)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/agent-intent.en.webp (Intent detection, in the agent editor.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/agent-intent-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: The prompt as it stands, usually asking whether the comment asks something a customer would want answered.

Step 2 of 3: Make it match your business.
Where: Say what counts for you: a comment asking about price, delivery, stock or a problem needs a reply; praise and emoji do not. If you sell appointments, add anyone asking when you are open.
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/agent-intent.en.webp (The prompt that decides what needs a reply.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/agent-intent-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: The chip starts appearing on the comments you would have picked yourself.

Step 3 of 3: Work from the filter.
Where: In the inbox, filter to Needs reply. That list is the agent judgement, and reading it for a day tells you whether the prompt is right.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox (Open the inbox)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/inbox.en.webp (Needs reply, on the rows the agent picked.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/inbox-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: A working list for your team, and a way to check the prompt against reality.

If something is off:
Problem: Everything is marked Needs reply
Fix: The prompt is too broad. Name what does not need a reply as well as what does.
Problem: Real questions are missed
Fix: Add the kind of question that was missed to the prompt, in the words the customer used.
Problem: The chip disappeared
Fix: It goes when the comment is answered. Filter by Replied to find it.

Common questions:
Question: Does the Needs reply chip appear when the agent is Off?
Answer: Yes. The chip appears whether the agent is Off, drafting or replying, so an agent left in Off mode still sorts your inbox.
Question: Where is the prompt that decides what needs a reply?
Answer: Under Intent detection on the agent, in Settings, AI agents, near the FAQ pairs. It is plain text and yours to change.
Question: Does the Needs reply prompt also control what the agent auto-replies to?
Answer: Yes. With Reply to set to Visible comments that need a reply, the same judgement decides what an agent in auto mode will answer, so a change to the prompt changes what gets sent.
Question: Can my team see only the comments that need a reply?
Answer: Yes. Needs reply is also a filter in the inbox, under Filters. The list it produces is the agent's judgement and a working list for your team.

Related guides:
- Who gets a reply, and who never does: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/ai-agents/who-gets-a-reply-and-who-never-does
- What the chips on a comment mean: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/inbox/what-the-chips-on-a-comment-mean
- Draft mode or auto mode: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/ai-agents/draft-mode-or-auto-mode

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/ai-agents/how-the-agent-decides-needs-reply.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt