Let me set the scene for you: I needed an AI assistant to handle specific tasks for my projects. I wanted it to pull information from a knowledge base, use a few tools, and maybe even respond to questions in a friendly tone. The catch? I didn’t have the time (or energy) to mess around with complex coding. That’s when I stumbled on Flowise’s new feature, and wow, it’s a game-changer.
I’m going to walk you through how I built a custom AI agent in just 5 minutes no coding required. Seriously, if I can do this, so can you! Please see my other blogs on how to setup Flowsie.
What’s the Big Deal?
Flowise’s latest update makes building AI agent ridiculously simple. With just a few clicks, you can:
Connect your assistant to a knowledge base for smarter responses.
Add tools (even custom ones you create).
Integrate it anywhere: your website, APIs, or just as a standalone app.
The best part? Everything happens on a single, user-friendly screen. No need to juggle between menus or write scripts.
Step 1: Update Your Flowise
First things first—make sure your Flowise instance is updated to version 2.2.2 or later. Once you’ve got the latest version, head to the “Assistants” tab. You’ll see a shiny new option called “Custom Assistants.” Click on it, and boom—you’re in.
Step 2: Name Your Assistant
Click “Create New” and give your assistant a name. I went with “John,” because why not? It’s a good name for a friendly assistant.
Step 3: Choose Your Model
Next, select a language model from Flowise’s list of providers. I chose ChatGPT because it’s reliable and versatile.
Pro Tip: You can customise how your assistant behaves by adding system instructions. For example, I wrote:
"You are helpful assistant called John. You can can search the web using the Serp API tool for latest events. Today date is 15th Decemeber 2024"If you’re feeling stuck, Flowise even has a “Generate” button to help you create polished instructions. I gave it a try, and it made my prompt way better.
Step 4: Connect a Knowledge Base
Here’s where the magic happens. Flowise lets you connect your assistant to document stores (aka knowledge bases). This is optional and for this demo I did not connect a store.
Step 5: Fine-Tune Your Settings
Flowise gives you lots of options to tweak your assistant. You can:
Adjust the model temperature (controls how creative the responses are).
Enable or disable image uploads.
Set token limits for the responses.
I kept things simple—just set my model to ChatOpenAI and chose GPT-4o-mini and saved my assistant.
Add Tools
Want your assistant to do more than just chat? You can add tools to give it extra abilities. For example, I added web search (using SerpAPI), so John could fetch the latest news.
Flowise even lets you create your own custom tools, which is perfect if you need something really specific. You will need a SerpAPI key!
Step 6: Test Your Assistant
Here’s the fun part. Once everything is set up, you can start chatting with your assistant directly in Flowise.
I typed “Hi,” and John responded right away. Then I asked, “What is the latest UK news Today ” He nailed it!
Step 7: Integration Made Easy
Now that John was up and running, I needed a way to use him outside of Flowise. Luckily, integrating your assistant is super simple:
Embed it on your website: Just copy-paste the embed code.
Use APIs: Flowise gives you sample code for Python and JavaScript.
Share a public link: If you’re feeling lazy (like I was), just make your assistant public and share the URL.
I tested the shared link, and it worked like a charm. John was ready to help anyone with just a click.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, I’m blown away by how easy this was. Flowise has made building AI agent assistants accessible to everyone, no coding required. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, a business owner, or just someone curious about AI, this tool has you covered.
So, what are you waiting for? Go build your own assistant. It’s fun, fast, and ridiculously satisfying.
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