ema-mcp-toolkit 0.2.0

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+# Ema Platform: New User Guide
+
+> **Version:** 1.0 | **Last Updated:** January 2026  
+> **Audience:** New users (technical and business)  
+> **Scope:** Complete guide to Ema's Agentic AI platform concepts, terminology, and usage patterns
+
+---
+
+## Table of Contents
+
+1. [One-Page Quick Reference](#one-page-quick-reference)
+2. [Glossary (Alphabetical)](#glossary)
+3. [Concept Map](#concept-map)
+4. [Deep Dive Sections](#deep-dive-sections)
+5. [Decision Tables](#decision-tables)
+6. [End-to-End Examples](#end-to-end-examples)
+7. [Troubleshooting & Gotchas](#troubleshooting--gotchas)
+8. [Version & Documentation References](#version--documentation-references)
+
+---
+
+## One-Page Quick Reference
+
+### What is Ema?
+
+**Ema** is a **Universal AI Employee** platform that creates autonomous AI agents capable of completing entire workflows—not just answering questions. Unlike chatbots or copilots, Ema's AI Employees can own tasks from start to finish.
+
+### Core Technology Stack
+
+| Component | Purpose |
+|-----------|---------|
+| **EmaFusion™** | Routes queries to optimal models from 100+ LLMs |
+| **Generative Workflow Engine™ (GWE)** | Builds workflows from natural language |
+| **Agent Mesh** | Network of specialized agents working together |
+| **Actions/Connectors** | 200+ enterprise integrations (Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, etc.) |
+
+### Key Concepts at a Glance
+
+| Term | One-Line Definition |
+|------|---------------------|
+| **AI Employee** | A complete autonomous agent with a role, knowledge, and capabilities |
+| **Workflow** | A sequence of agents/actions orchestrated to complete a task |
+| **Agent** | A specialized capability (search, respond, classify, etc.) |
+| **Action** | A discrete operation an agent can perform |
+| **Trigger** | What initiates a workflow (chat, email, voice, scheduled, etc.) |
+| **HITL** | Human-in-the-Loop approval/verification step |
+
+### Quick Start Flow
+
+```
+1. Create AI Employee → Choose template (Chat, Email, Voice, Dashboard)
+2. Configure Trigger → Define how work arrives  
+3. Build Workflow → Add agents and connect them
+4. Add Knowledge → Upload documents, connect integrations
+5. Test → Use preview/playground
+6. Deploy → Activate and monitor
+```
+
+---
+
+## Glossary
+
+### A
+
+#### **Action**
+**Definition:** A discrete operation performed by an agent—the smallest unit of work in a workflow.
+
+**Aliases/Related Terms:**
+- Tool (often used interchangeably)
+- Step (workflow context)
+- Connector operation (when involving integrations)
+
+**Where It Appears:** Workflow Builder UI, API action definitions, execution logs
+
+**Example Actions:**
+- `search` — Retrieve documents from knowledge base
+- `call_llm` — Generate a response using an LLM
+- `send_email` — Dispatch email via integration
+- `create_ticket` — Create ServiceNow/Zendesk ticket
+
+---
+
+#### **Agent**
+**Definition:** A specialized AI capability that performs a specific function within a workflow. Agents are the building blocks that compose AI Employee behaviors.
+
+**Aliases/Related Terms:**
+- Node (workflow visualization context)
+- Workflow step
+- NOT the same as "AI Employee" (see disambiguation below)
+
+**Common Agent Types:**
+| Agent Type | Purpose |
+|------------|---------|
+| `chat_categorizer` | Classifies user intent |
+| `search` | Retrieves relevant documents |
+| `respond_with_sources` | Generates answer with citations |
+| `external_action_caller` | Invokes external APIs/tools |
+| `call_llm` | Custom LLM response generation |
+| `generate_document` | Creates Word/PDF documents |
+
+**Where It Appears:** Workflow Builder canvas, Agent library, Execution traces
+
+---
+
+#### **Agent Mesh**
+**Definition:** The network of specialized agents that collaborate to complete complex tasks. Instead of a single monolithic AI, Ema uses multiple specialized agents working together.
+
+**How It Works:**
+1. User request arrives at trigger
+2. Orchestration layer routes to appropriate agents
+3. Agents may call other agents or external tools
+4. Results flow back and are synthesized
+5. Final response delivered
+
+**Why It Matters:** Better accuracy, specialization, auditability, and fault isolation than single-agent approaches.
+
+---
+
+#### **AI Employee**
+**Definition:** A complete, configured instance of an autonomous AI agent with:
+- A defined role and purpose
+- A workflow (series of agents)
+- Access to specific knowledge/documents
+- Configured integrations and permissions
+- A trigger type (how it receives work)
+
+**Aliases/Related Terms:**
+- Persona (internal API term)
+- Bot/Assistant (casual usage—but less accurate)
+
+**NOT the same as:**
+- Agent (an AI Employee *contains* agents)
+- Action (actions are what agents perform)
+
+**Where It Appears:** 
+- Ema Builder UI: "AI Employees" menu
+- API: `persona` endpoints
+- Workspace dashboard
+
+---
+
+#### **Agentic AI**
+**Definition:** AI systems that autonomously plan, reason, and execute multi-step tasks—completing workflows from start to finish rather than just assisting.
+
+**Evolution Context:**
+| Generation | Type | Capability |
+|------------|------|------------|
+| Gen 1 | Rule-based systems | Follow scripts |
+| Gen 2 | Chatbots | Answer FAQs |
+| Gen 3 | Copilots | Assist humans |
+| Gen 4 | **Agentic AI** | Complete workflows autonomously |
+
+**Key Differentiators:**
+- **Goal-oriented:** Works toward outcomes, not just responses
+- **Autonomous:** Makes decisions without constant human input
+- **Tool-using:** Interacts with external systems
+- **Accountable:** Traceable and auditable actions
+
+---
+
+### C
+
+#### **Connector**
+**Definition:** A pre-built integration that enables agents to interact with external enterprise systems.
+
+**Aliases/Related Terms:**
+- Integration
+- Tool (when used as an action)
+- External action
+
+**Examples:**
+- ServiceNow connector → Create/update tickets
+- Salesforce connector → Query/update CRM records
+- Workday connector → Access HR data
+- Email connector → Send/receive emails
+
+**Where Configured:** Builder UI → Integrations section, or via API
+
+---
+
+#### **Conversation**
+**Definition:** A multi-turn interaction session between a user and an AI Employee, maintaining context across messages.
+
+**Key Characteristics:**
+- Persists context across multiple messages
+- Tracked by `conversation_id`
+- Contains history of user messages and AI responses
+- Used for chat and voice-based AI Employees
+
+**Accessing Conversation Data in Workflows:**
+- `{{trigger.user_query}}` — Returns only the **last/current user message**
+- `{{trigger.chat_conversation}}` — Returns the **complete conversation history** (all messages)
+- **Conversation Summarizer agent** — Allows **configurable history depth** (specify how many turns to include)
+
+**See:** [Query vs Conversation decision table](#query-vs-conversation), [Trigger Agents](#1-trigger-agents)
+
+---
+
+### E
+
+#### **EmaFusion™**
+**Definition:** Ema's proprietary model orchestration technology that combines 100+ LLMs to route queries to the optimal model(s) for each task.
+
+**How It Works:**
+1. Incoming query is analyzed
+2. EmaFusion determines which model(s) are best suited
+3. Query is routed to selected model(s)
+4. Results may be synthesized from multiple models
+5. Best answer returned
+
+**Benefits:**
+- Higher accuracy than single-model approaches
+- Cost optimization (use expensive models only when needed)
+- Reduced hallucinations through consensus
+- Automatic model updates without workflow changes
+
+**Configuration:** In Builder UI, select "EmaFusion™ Model" widget or limit to specific models.
+
+---
+
+### G
+
+#### **Generative Workflow Engine™ (GWE)**
+**Definition:** The core engine that enables building AI workflows using natural language instructions—no coding required.
+
+**Key Capabilities:**
+- Natural language workflow definition
+- Visual workflow builder
+- Automatic agent orchestration
+- Execution and monitoring
+
+**Where It Appears:** Builder UI (workflow canvas), API (workflow definitions)
+
+---
+
+### H
+
+#### **Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)**
+**Definition:** A workflow pattern where human approval or verification is required before proceeding with an action.
+
+**When to Use:**
+- High-stakes decisions (financial approvals, legal actions)
+- Sensitive operations (PII handling, terminations)
+- Low-confidence situations
+- Compliance requirements
+
+**Configuration:**
+```yaml
+humanInteractionConfig:
+  alwaysPauseForHumanInteraction: true
+  message: "Please confirm the action"
+  confirmationButtonName: "Confirm"
+  cancelButtonName: "Cancel"
+```
+
+**Where It Appears:** Agent configuration in Builder, execution flow in runtime
+
+---
+
+### K
+
+#### **Knowledge Base**
+**Definition:** The collection of documents, policies, and data sources an AI Employee can search and reference.
+
+**Supported Sources:**
+- Local file uploads (PDF, DOCX, TXT, etc.)
+- Connected integrations (Google Drive, SharePoint, Confluence)
+- Structured databases
+- Web content
+
+**Features:**
+- Vector search (semantic similarity)
+- Keyword search
+- Automatic chunking and embedding
+- Source citation in responses
+
+---
+
+### Q
+
+#### **Query**
+**Definition:** A single, stateless request to an AI system—does not maintain conversation context.
+
+**Key Characteristics:**
+- One-shot interaction
+- No history awareness
+- Typically used for API calls or single-turn interactions
+- Lower overhead than conversations
+
+**See:** [Query vs Conversation decision table](#query-vs-conversation)
+
+---
+
+### T
+
+#### **Task**
+**Definition:** A unit of work to be completed by an AI Employee, triggered by an event and executed through a workflow.
+
+**Lifecycle:**
+1. **Triggered** — Event arrives (chat message, email, schedule)
+2. **Queued** — Task enters processing queue
+3. **Executing** — Workflow runs through agents
+4. **Awaiting** — Paused for HITL or external response
+5. **Completed** — Successfully finished
+6. **Failed** — Error occurred
+
+**Where It Appears:** Execution logs, task dashboard, API responses
+
+---
+
+#### **Trigger**
+**Definition:** The event or condition that initiates an AI Employee's workflow.
+
+**Trigger Types:**
+| Type | ID | Description |
+|------|----|----|
+| Chat | 1, 4 | Web chat widget interaction |
+| Email | 2 | Incoming email to monitored inbox |
+| Ticket | 3 | ServiceNow/Zendesk ticket event |
+| Voice | 1 | Phone/voice interaction |
+| Schedule | 5 | Time-based automation |
+| Dashboard | 2 | Manual dashboard trigger |
+| API | - | Programmatic invocation |
+
+---
+
+#### **Tool**
+**Definition:** An external capability that agents can invoke to perform specific operations.
+
+**Aliases/Related Terms:**
+- Action (internal context)
+- Connector (when referring to integration)
+- External action
+
+**Tool Categories:**
+- **Internal tools:** Search, respond, classify
+- **External tools:** Third-party API calls, integrations
+- **Custom tools:** User-defined API endpoints
+
+---
+
+### W
+
+#### **Workflow**
+**Definition:** A directed graph of agents and their connections that defines how an AI Employee processes work from trigger to response.
+
+**Components:**
+1. **Trigger node** — Entry point
+2. **Agent nodes** — Processing steps
+3. **Conditional branches** — Decision points
+4. **Result nodes** — Output definitions
+
+**Example Structure:**
+```
+Trigger → Categorizer → [Branch by Intent]
+                              ├─→ Search → Respond (FAQ)
+                              ├─→ External Tool → Respond (Action)
+                              └─→ Escalate (Unknown)
+```
+
+---
+
+## Concept Map
+
+```
+┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+│                     EMA PLATFORM ARCHITECTURE                    │
+├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+│                                                                  │
+│  ┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐                    │
+│  │   AI EMPLOYEE   │────▶│    WORKFLOW     │                    │
+│  │   (Persona)     │     │                 │                    │
+│  │                 │     │  ┌───────────┐  │                    │
+│  │ • Name/Role     │     │  │  TRIGGER  │  │                    │
+│  │ • Description   │     │  │(Chat/Email│  │                    │
+│  │ • Status        │     │  │ /Voice)   │  │                    │
+│  │ • Access Level  │     │  └─────┬─────┘  │                    │
+│  └─────────────────┘     │        │        │                    │
+│                          │        ▼        │                    │
+│                          │  ┌───────────┐  │  ┌──────────────┐  │
+│                          │  │   AGENT   │──┼─▶│   ACTION     │  │
+│                          │  │ (Node)    │  │  │              │  │
+│                          │  │           │  │  │ • search     │  │
+│                          │  │ • Type    │  │  │ • call_llm   │  │
+│                          │  │ • Inputs  │  │  │ • send_email │  │
+│                          │  │ • Config  │  │  │ • api_call   │  │
+│                          │  └─────┬─────┘  │  └──────────────┘  │
+│                          │        │        │                    │
+│                          │        ▼        │                    │
+│                          │  ┌───────────┐  │  ┌──────────────┐  │
+│                          │  │  RESULTS  │──┼─▶│ CONNECTORS/  │  │
+│                          │  │           │  │  │    TOOLS     │  │
+│                          │  └───────────┘  │  │              │  │
+│                          │                 │  │ • Salesforce │  │
+│                          └─────────────────┘  │ • ServiceNow │  │
+│                                               │ • Workday    │  │
+│                                               └──────────────┘  │
+│                                                                  │
+│  ┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐                    │
+│  │   EMAFUSION™    │     │  KNOWLEDGE BASE │                    │
+│  │                 │     │                 │                    │
+│  │ • Model routing │     │ • Documents     │                    │
+│  │ • 100+ LLMs     │     │ • Integrations  │                    │
+│  │ • Optimization  │     │ • Tags/Filters  │                    │
+│  └─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘                    │
+│                                                                  │
+└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+```
+
+### Disambiguation Relationships
+
+```
+┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+│                    COMMON CONFUSIONS CLARIFIED                  │
+├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+│                                                                 │
+│   AI EMPLOYEE  ≠  AGENT  ≠  AGENT MESH                         │
+│   ═══════════     ═════     ══════════                         │
+│                                                                 │
+│   AI Employee: The complete deployed instance                   │
+│        │       (has role, workflow, knowledge)                  │
+│        │                                                        │
+│        └──contains──▶ Workflow                                  │
+│                            │                                    │
+│                            └──contains──▶ Agents (plural)       │
+│                                              │                  │
+│                                              └──work within──▶  │
+│                                                   Agent Mesh    │
+│                                                                 │
+│   ANALOGY:                                                      │
+│   • AI Employee = Complete Employee with job description        │
+│   • Agents = Individual skills/capabilities                     │
+│   • Agent Mesh = The team collaboration pattern                 │
+│   • Workflow = The process they follow                          │
+│                                                                 │
+├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+│                                                                 │
+│   ACTION  vs  TOOL  vs  STEP                                   │
+│   ══════     ════     ════                                     │
+│                                                                 │
+│   Action: Platform's term for discrete operation                │
+│   Tool: External action (API call, connector)                   │
+│   Step: Workflow position (visual/sequential context)           │
+│                                                                 │
+│   All three can refer to the same thing depending on context!   │
+│                                                                 │
+├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+│                                                                 │
+│   QUERY  vs  CONVERSATION                                      │
+│   ═════     ════════════                                       │
+│                                                                 │
+│   Query: Single request, no context                             │
+│   Conversation: Multi-turn, context preserved                   │
+│                                                                 │
+│   See Decision Table below for when to use each                 │
+│                                                                 │
+└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+```
+
+---
+
+## Deep Dive Sections
+
+### AI Employees
+
+#### What They Are
+
+An **AI Employee** is a fully configured, deployable autonomous agent. Think of it as a digital team member with:
+
+1. **Identity** — Name, description, icon
+2. **Role** — What it does (HR support, customer service, document processing)
+3. **Capabilities** — Workflow defining its behaviors
+4. **Knowledge** — Documents and data it can access
+5. **Integrations** — External systems it can interact with
+6. **Access Controls** — Who can use/edit it
+
+#### How They Work
+
+```
+┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+│                    AI EMPLOYEE EXECUTION                     │
+├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+│                                                              │
+│   1. TRIGGER RECEIVED                                        │
+│      └─▶ Chat message / Email / Voice call / Schedule        │
+│                                                              │
+│   2. WORKFLOW INITIATED                                      │
+│      └─▶ Trigger node activates                              │
+│                                                              │
+│   3. AGENT SEQUENCE EXECUTES                                 │
+│      └─▶ Each agent processes inputs, produces outputs       │
+│      └─▶ Conditional routing based on agent outputs          │
+│                                                              │
+│   4. EXTERNAL CALLS (if needed)                              │
+│      └─▶ API calls to connectors                             │
+│      └─▶ HITL pauses if configured                           │
+│                                                              │
+│   5. RESULTS DELIVERED                                       │
+│      └─▶ Response to user / Document created / Action taken  │
+│                                                              │
+│   6. LOGGING & ANALYTICS                                     │
+│      └─▶ Execution trace captured                            │
+│      └─▶ Metrics updated                                     │
+│                                                              │
+└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+```
+
+#### Configuration Locations
+
+| Setting | Builder UI | API |
+|---------|------------|-----|
+| Name/Description | AI Employee Settings | `persona.name`, `persona.description` |
+| Status (Active/Inactive) | Toggle in header | `enabled_by_user` |
+| Workflow | Workflow Builder canvas | `workflow_def` |
+| Knowledge | File Upload widgets | `proto_config.widgets` |
+| Integrations | Integrations panel | Connector configurations |
+| EmaFusion Model | Model selector widget | `fusionModel` config |
+
+#### Debugging AI Employees
+
+1. **Execution Traces** — View step-by-step agent execution
+2. **Logs** — Detailed input/output for each node
+3. **Preview Mode** — Test without affecting production
+4. **Playground** — Interactive testing environment
+
+---
+
+### Workflows & Agents
+
+#### Workflow Architecture
+
+A workflow is a **directed acyclic graph (DAG)** where:
+- **Nodes** are agents performing operations
+- **Edges** define data flow between agents
+- **Conditions** enable branching logic
+
+#### Core Agent Types
+
+##### 1. Trigger Agents
+Start the workflow when an event occurs.
+
+```yaml
+# Chat Trigger Example
+name: "trigger"
+action: "triggers.emainternal.chat_trigger"
+outputs:
+  - chat_conversation  # Full conversation history
+  - user_query         # Latest user message
+```
+
+**Trigger Output Details:**
+
+| Output | Description |
+|--------|-------------|
+| `user_query` | The **last/most recent user question** only. Use this when you only need the current request without history context. |
+| `chat_conversation` | The **complete conversation history** including all previous messages. Contains the full context of the interaction. |
+| `additional_context` | **Integration-specific context** passed from upstream systems via API. Available when integrated with platforms like Microsoft Teams (via Graph API), Slack, or other enterprise systems. |
+
+**Additional Context from Integrations:**
+
+When the AI Employee is integrated with upstream platforms, the trigger may receive `additional_context` containing platform-specific information:
+
+| Integration | Context May Include |
+|-------------|---------------------|
+| **Microsoft Teams** (Graph API) | User profile, team/channel info, tenant details, message metadata |
+| **Slack** | Workspace info, channel context, user details, thread information |
+| **Email** | Sender info, headers, attachments metadata, thread references |
+| **Custom API** | Any context your integration passes through |
+
+This additional context enables richer personalization and routing decisions based on where and how the user is interacting with the AI Employee.
+
+> ⚠️ **Critical: Workflow Execution Model**
+> 
+> Each `user_query` (user message) **triggers a new workflow execution**. This means:
+> - The workflow runs **once per user message**, not once per conversation
+> - Each subsequent question is its own `user_query` that invokes the workflow again
+> - `chat_conversation` accumulates across executions, but each execution starts fresh
+> 
+> **Design Implications:**
+> - **Avoid duplicate actions:** If a user asks a follow-up question, the workflow runs again. Design your workflow to check context before performing actions (e.g., don't create a new ticket if one was just created in the previous turn)
+> - **Use conversation history for context:** Check `chat_conversation` to understand what actions were already taken in previous turns
+> - **Conditional logic:** Use `runIf` conditions to skip redundant operations based on conversation state
+> 
+> **Example Anti-Pattern:**
+> ```
+> User: "Create a ticket for my laptop issue"  → Workflow creates ticket ✓
+> User: "Add my phone number to it"            → Workflow runs again - might create ANOTHER ticket ✗
+> ```
+> 
+> **Correct Pattern:**
+> ```
+> Use chat_conversation to detect if a ticket was already created in this conversation,
+> then route to "update ticket" instead of "create ticket"
+> ```
+
+**Trigger Outputs vs Conversation Summarizer:**
+
+Both `chat_conversation` and the **Conversation Summarizer** agent provide conversation context, but with key differences:
+
+| Approach | History Scope | Use Case |
+|----------|---------------|----------|
+| `{{trigger.chat_conversation}}` | **All history** — complete conversation from start | When you need full context and don't want to lose any information |
+| `{{trigger.user_query}}` | **Last message only** — just the current question | Simple queries where history doesn't matter |
+| **Conversation Summarizer** agent | **Configurable** — specify how many turns/how far back | When you need to limit context window or summarize long conversations |
+
+**When to Use Each:**
+
+- **Use `user_query`** for single-turn interactions or when previous context isn't needed
+- **Use `chat_conversation`** when you need complete history and context window size isn't a concern
+- **Use Conversation Summarizer** when:
+  - Conversations are long and you need to manage token limits
+  - You want to control exactly how many turns of history to include
+  - You need a condensed summary rather than raw message history
+
+> **Note:** You may still need to use **Conversation Summarizer in conjunction with `chat_conversation`**. Some downstream agents specifically require the Conversation Summarizer's output format. Additionally, even when using `chat_conversation`, you may need to add a Conversation Summarizer to reduce conversation size due to LLM context window limits on long conversations.
+
+##### 2. Classification Agents
+Categorize inputs to route to appropriate handlers.
+
+```yaml
+# Intent Classifier Example
+name: "chat_categorizer"
+action: "actions.emainternal.chat_categorizer"
+inputs:
+  conversation: "{{trigger.chat_conversation}}"
+typeArguments:
+  categories:
+    - name: "Fallback"
+      description: "General policy questions"
+      examples: ["What are the benefits?", "Tell me about leave policy"]
+    - name: "Leave Management"
+      description: "Leave requests and balance"
+      examples: ["Apply for vacation", "Check my leave balance"]
+    - name: "IT Tickets"
+      description: "Technical support requests"
+      examples: ["Create a ticket", "I can't login"]
+```
+
+##### 3. Search Agents
+Retrieve relevant information from knowledge bases.
+
+```yaml
+# Knowledge Base Search Example
+name: "search"
+action: "actions.emainternal.search"
+inputs:
+  query: "{{categorizer.summarized_conversation}}"
+  datastore_configs: ["policy_documents"]
+  page_size: 15
+  max_sources: 15
+outputs:
+  - search_results
+```
+
+##### 4. Response Agents
+Generate answers using LLMs.
+
+```yaml
+# Response Generation Example
+name: "respond_with_sources"
+action: "actions.emainternal.respond_with_sources"
+inputs:
+  query: "{{search.query}}"
+  search_results: "{{search.search_results}}"
+  user_instructions: |
+    You are an HR assistant. Answer questions using only
+    the provided documents. Cite your sources.
+  model_config:
+    selectedModels: ["gpt-4o"]
+```
+
+##### 5. External Action Agents
+Call external APIs and tools.
+
+```yaml
+# External API Call Example
+name: "external_action_caller"
+action: "actions.emainternal.external_action_caller"
+tools:
+  - action: "tools.external.servicenow_Create_Ticket"
+    inputs:
+      ShortDescription: "{{llm_inferred}}"
+      Description: "{{llm_inferred}}"
+      UserId: "user@company.com"
+    humanInteractionConfig:
+      alwaysPauseForHumanInteraction: true
+      message: "Please confirm ticket creation"
+```
+
+#### Conditional Execution
+
+Agents can have `runIf` conditions:
+
+```yaml
+runIf:
+  lhs: "{{categorizer.category}}"
+  operator: EQUALS  # 1 = EQUALS
+  rhs: "Leave Management"
+```
+
+---
+
+### Actions & Tools
+
+#### Action Anatomy
+
+Every action has:
+
+| Component | Description |
+|-----------|-------------|
+| **Name** | Unique identifier |
+| **Namespace** | Category (actions.emainternal, tools.external, etc.) |
+| **Version** | API version (v0, v1, etc.) |
+| **Inputs** | Required and optional parameters |
+| **Outputs** | What the action produces |
+
+#### Tool Invocation Flow
+
+```
+┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+│                    TOOL INVOCATION FLOW                        │
+├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+│                                                                │
+│  1. Agent receives inputs                                      │
+│     └─▶ Query, context, configuration                          │
+│                                                                │
+│  2. LLM analyzes which tool(s) to call                         │
+│     └─▶ Based on query intent and available tools              │
+│                                                                │
+│  3. LLM extracts/infers parameters                             │
+│     └─▶ From conversation context or hardcoded values          │
+│                                                                │
+│  4. HITL check (if configured)                                 │
+│     └─▶ Present parameters for human approval                  │
+│     └─▶ Wait for confirmation/cancellation                     │
+│                                                                │
+│  5. Tool executed                                              │
+│     └─▶ API call made with extracted parameters                │
+│                                                                │
+│  6. Results processed                                          │
+│     └─▶ Response formatted and returned to workflow            │
+│                                                                │
+└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+```
+
+#### Connector Categories
+
+Based on observed AI Employees:
+
+| Category | Examples |
+|----------|----------|
+| **ITSM** | ServiceNow, Zendesk, Jira |
+| **CRM** | Salesforce, HubSpot |
+| **HR** | Workday, BambooHR, ADP |
+| **Communication** | Email, Slack, Teams |
+| **Documents** | Google Drive, SharePoint, Box |
+| **Custom APIs** | Any REST API endpoint |
+
+---
+
+### Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)
+
+#### When to Use HITL
+
+| Scenario | HITL Recommended? | Rationale |
+|----------|-------------------|-----------|
+| Creating tickets | ✅ Yes | Verify details before submission |
+| Querying information | ❌ No | Low risk, user can clarify |
+| Sending emails | ✅ Yes | Prevent incorrect communications |
+| Financial actions | ✅ Yes | Compliance and accuracy |
+| Document generation | ⚠️ Sometimes | Depends on sensitivity |
+| Knowledge lookup | ❌ No | Read-only, reversible |
+
+#### Configuration Options
+
+```yaml
+humanInteractionConfig:
+  alwaysPauseForHumanInteraction: true   # Always require approval
+  shouldVerifyParamsPreExecution: true   # Show params before executing
+  message: "Please review and confirm"   # Custom message
+  confirmationButtonName: "Approve"      # Custom button text
+  cancelButtonName: "Reject"             # Custom cancel text
+  hiddenParams: ["internal_id"]          # Hide sensitive params
+  paramEditingDisabled: false            # Allow param editing
+```
+
+---
+
+## Decision Tables
+
+### Query vs Conversation
+
+| Criteria | Use Query | Use Conversation |
+|----------|-----------|------------------|
+| **Interaction Type** | Single request | Multi-turn dialogue |
+| **Context Needed** | No history required | History important |
+| **API Pattern** | Stateless call | Session-based |
+| **Use Case** | Document processing, batch jobs | Chat, voice support |
+| **Overhead** | Lower | Higher (state management) |
+| **Example** | "Process this invoice" | "What's my leave balance?" → "Apply for next Monday" |
+
+#### Conversation Example
+
+```json
+{
+  "conversation_id": "conv_abc123",
+  "messages": [
+    {"role": "user", "content": "What's my leave balance?"},
+    {"role": "assistant", "content": "You have 12 days of PTO remaining."},
+    {"role": "user", "content": "I'd like to take next Monday off"},
+    {"role": "assistant", "content": "I'll submit a leave request for Monday. Please confirm."}
+  ]
+}
+```
+
+#### Query Example
+
+```json
+{
+  "query": "Extract invoice number and total from attached PDF",
+  "attachments": ["invoice_2024_001.pdf"]
+}
+```
+
+---
+
+### Actions vs Conversational Orchestration
+
+| Scenario | Approach | Why |
+|----------|----------|-----|
+| **User asks a question** | Conversational | Need to understand intent, search knowledge |
+| **Automated document processing** | Actions pipeline | No user interaction, deterministic flow |
+| **IT ticket creation** | Conversational → Action | Gather info conversationally, then act |
+| **Scheduled report generation** | Actions pipeline | No user in loop |
+| **Complex multi-system workflow** | Action orchestration | Predictable, auditable execution |
+| **Ambiguous user request** | Conversational | Need clarification |
+
+---
+
+### When to Use What
+
+| Need | Solution |
+|------|----------|
+| Answer employee questions from policy docs | Chat AI Employee with search + respond agents |
+| Process incoming emails automatically | Email-triggered AI Employee with classification + routing |
+| Create IT tickets from chat | Chat AI Employee with external_action_caller to ServiceNow |
+| Generate documents on demand | Document AI Employee with generate_document agent |
+| Voice-based password reset | Voice AI Employee with verification workflow |
+| Scheduled data extraction | Dashboard AI Employee with schedule trigger |
+
+---
+
+## End-to-End Examples
+
+### Example 1: Simple HR Policy Q&A Bot
+
+**Objective:** Answer employee questions about company policies.
+
+#### 1. Create AI Employee
+- Template: Chat AI Employee
+- Name: "HR Policy Assistant"
+- Trigger: Chat
+
+#### 2. Configure Workflow
+
+```
+[Chat Trigger]
+      │
+      ▼
+[Conversation Summarizer] ─── Extracts user query and context
+      │
+      ▼
+[Knowledge Search] ─── Searches uploaded policy documents
+      │
+      ▼
+[Respond with Sources] ─── Generates answer with citations
+```
+
+#### 3. Add Knowledge
+- Upload: Employee Handbook PDF, Leave Policy DOCX, Benefits Guide PDF
+- Enable tagging by location/department if needed
+
+#### 4. Configure Response Agent
+
+```yaml
+user_instructions: |
+  You are an HR assistant for ACME Inc.
+  Answer questions using ONLY the provided documents.
+  Always cite your sources.
+  If you don't know the answer, say so and suggest contacting HR.
+  Keep responses concise but complete.
+```
+
+#### 5. Test & Deploy
+- Use preview mode with sample questions
+- Verify source citations are correct
+- Activate when satisfied
+
+---
+
+### Example 2: Enterprise IT Support with Ticket Creation
+
+**Objective:** Triage IT requests, answer from knowledge base or create ServiceNow tickets.
+
+#### 1. Create AI Employee
+- Template: Chat AI Employee
+- Name: "IT Support Assistant"
+- Trigger: Chat (embed in intranet)
+
+#### 2. Configure Workflow
+
+```
+[Chat Trigger]
+      │
+      ▼
+[Intent Classifier] ───┬──── "Knowledge Question" ───▶ [Search] → [Respond]
+                       │
+                       ├──── "Ticket Request" ───▶ [Create Ticket] → [Confirm]
+                       │
+                       └──── "Unknown" ───▶ [Escalate/Create Ticket]
+```
+
+#### 3. Configure Intent Categories
+
+```yaml
+categories:
+  - name: "Knowledge Question"
+    description: "Questions about IT policies, how-to guides"
+    examples:
+      - "How do I connect to VPN?"
+      - "What's the password policy?"
+  
+  - name: "Ticket Request"
+    description: "Request for IT help or action"
+    examples:
+      - "My laptop is broken"
+      - "I need software installed"
+      - "I can't access the shared drive"
+  
+  - name: "Status Check"
+    description: "Check on existing tickets"
+    examples:
+      - "What's the status of my ticket?"
+      - "Has my request been resolved?"
+```
+
+#### 4. Configure ServiceNow Integration
+
+```yaml
+tools:
+  - action: "tools.external.servicenow_Create_Ticket"
+    inputs:
+      ShortDescription: "{{llm_inferred}}"
+      Description: "{{llm_inferred}}"
+      Urgency: "{{llm_inferred}}"
+      Impact: "{{llm_inferred}}"
+      UserId: "{{user.email}}"
+    humanInteractionConfig:
+      alwaysPauseForHumanInteraction: true
+      message: "Please confirm ticket details before submission"
+```
+
+#### 5. Test Scenarios
+- "How do I reset my password?" → Should answer from KB
+- "My laptop screen is cracked" → Should create ticket (with approval)
+- "Check ticket INC0012345" → Should lookup and return status
+
+---
+
+### Example 3: Voice Password Reset
+
+**Objective:** Enable employees to reset passwords via phone with identity verification.
+
+#### 1. Create AI Employee
+- Template: Voice AI Employee
+- Name: "Password Reset Assistant"
+- Trigger: Voice/Phone
+
+#### 2. Configure Workflow
+
+```
+[Voice Trigger]
+      │
+      ▼
+[Greeting Agent] ─── "Hi, I'm the IT assistant. I can help reset your password."
+      │
+      ▼
+[Identity Verification 1] ─── "What's your employee ID?"
+      │
+      ▼
+[Identity Verification 2] ─── "What are the last 4 digits of your SSN?"
+      │
+      ▼
+[Verification Check] ───┬──── Success ───▶ [Send Reset Link] → [Confirm]
+                        │
+                        └──── Failure ───▶ [Transfer to Human Agent]
+```
+
+#### 3. Configure Voice Settings
+- Voice: Select appropriate TTS voice
+- Conversational style: Professional, clear, helpful
+- Error handling: Graceful transfer to human on failures
+
+---
+
+## Troubleshooting & Gotchas
+
+### Common Mistakes
+
+| Mistake | Problem | Solution |
+|---------|---------|----------|
+| **Not testing with edge cases** | Unexpected failures in production | Test with empty inputs, long inputs, multilingual |
+| **Overloading workflows** | Slow execution, timeouts | Keep workflows focused; split complex ones |
+| **Missing HITL on sensitive actions** | Unintended actions taken | Add HITL for any action with external side effects |
+| **Vague agent instructions** | Inconsistent responses | Be specific about tone, format, boundaries |
+| **Not citing sources** | Trust issues | Enable `use_citation_based_filtering` |
+| **Ignoring confidence scores** | Bad answers served confidently | Implement confidence thresholds |
+
+### Debugging Checklist
+
+When an AI Employee isn't working correctly:
+
+1. **Check Status** — Is the AI Employee active/ready?
+2. **Review Trigger** — Is the trigger correctly configured?
+3. **Trace Execution** — Where does the workflow fail?
+4. **Inspect Inputs** — Are inputs reaching agents correctly?
+5. **Check Integrations** — Are connectors authenticated?
+6. **Review Logs** — What errors appear?
+7. **Test Isolation** — Does the agent work in isolation?
+
+### Known Limitations
+
+| Limitation | Workaround |
+|------------|------------|
+| **Long document processing** | Split into chunks, use async processing |
+| **Real-time data needs** | Use external action callers with live APIs |
+| **Complex calculations** | Use code execution tools or external services |
+| **Multi-language in single workflow** | Detect language early, route appropriately |
+
+### Error Handling Patterns
+
+```yaml
+# Graceful degradation example
+runIf:
+  condition: "{{search.search_results.length}} > 0"
+  onTrue: "respond_with_sources"
+  onFalse: "fallback_response"
+
+# Fallback configuration
+fallback_response:
+  action: "call_llm"
+  inputs:
+    instructions: |
+      The knowledge base doesn't have relevant information.
+      Apologize and offer to create a ticket for human follow-up.
+```
+
+---
+
+## Version & Documentation References
+
+### Documentation URLs
+
+| Resource | URL | Notes |
+|----------|-----|-------|
+| **Developer Docs** | https://developer.ema.co/ | API reference, SDK guides |
+| **Builder Docs** | https://builder.ema.co/ | UI guides, tutorials |
+| **Ema Website** | https://ema.co | Product overview, use cases |
+| **Knowledge Base** | https://emaunlimited.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/KB/overview | Internal knowledge articles |
+
+### API Environments
+
+| Environment | URL | Purpose |
+|-------------|-----|---------|
+| **Demo** | https://api.demo.ema.co | Testing, demos |
+| **Dev** | https://api.dev.ema.co | Development |
+| **Production** | https://api.ema.co | Live deployments |
+
+### Version Information
+
+- **Guide Version:** 1.0
+- **Platform Version:** As of January 2026
+- **Last Reviewed:** January 5, 2026
+
+### Areas Where Documentation is Unclear
+
+Based on analysis, the following areas could benefit from clearer documentation:
+
+1. **Action Categories** — Complete list of available actions and their parameters
+2. **Workflow Schema** — Full JSON schema for workflow definitions
+3. **Error Codes** — Comprehensive error code reference
+4. **Rate Limits** — API rate limiting documentation
+5. **MCP/A2A Protocols** — If/how these are implemented
+
+### Feedback
+
+For documentation feedback or corrections, contact:
+- Internal: Ema Documentation Team
+- External: docs@ema.co
+
+---
+
+## Appendix: Template IDs Reference
+
+Common template IDs observed in the platform:
+
+| Template ID | Type |
+|-------------|------|
+| `00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001` | Basic Chat |
+| `00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000007` | Conversational Chat |
+| `00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000000a` | Email/Dashboard |
+| `00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000000b` | Document Writer |
+| `00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000000e` | Ticket Handler |
+| `00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000014` | Auto Builder |
+| `00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000001e` | Voice AI Employee |
+| `10d38c96-e4fb-4aa6-9586-aad0bfbc2f0d` | Dashboard Workflow |
+
+---
+
+*This guide is maintained by the Ema Platform team. For the latest updates, always refer to the official documentation at https://developer.ema.co/*
+