Build a Complete Agent in 10 Minutes

Ready to build something real? This guide walks you through every setting, so by the end you’ll have a fully configured agent ready to take calls. Don’t worry if some of this feels new — we’ll explain everything as we go.

New to Dasha BlackBox? If you haven’t tried the Quickstart yet, start there. It takes 5 minutes and gives you a feel for how things work.

Before you start

You’ll need:

A Dasha BlackBox account — sign up here if you haven’t already
An idea of what you want your agent to do (support calls? appointment booking? lead qualification?)
A rough draft of what you want it to say

What we’re setting up

Here’s everything you can configure. Don’t let the list intimidate you — only the first three are required:

Setting	What it does	Required?
Basic Info	Name, language, personality	✓
AI Model	The brain that powers conversations	✓
Voice	How your agent sounds	✓
Tools	Actions your agent can take (check orders, book appointments)
Schedule	When your agent is available
Features	Extra capabilities like call transfers, knowledge bases
Webhooks	Get notified when calls happen
Phone Setup	Connect to real phone numbers

Let’s go through each one.

Step 1: Basic information

This is where you give your agent an identity.

Open the agent builder

Give it a name

Pick something descriptive — “Customer Support Agent” or “Appointment Scheduler” works well. You’ll thank yourself later when you have multiple agents.

Choose a language

Select your agent’s main language. Don’t worry, you can add more languages later if you need them.

Write the system prompt

This is the most important part. Your system prompt tells the agent who it is and how to behave.Start simple — something like:

“You are a friendly customer support agent for [Your Company]. Help customers with their questions. Be concise and helpful. If you don’t know something, say so.”

You’ll refine this based on test conversations, so don’t overthink it now.

Enable the agent

Toggle Allow this agent to take calls to ON.

The best prompts come from iteration. Start simple, test with real conversations, then add details based on what you learn.

Step 2: Choose your AI model

The AI model is your agent’s brain — it determines how smart and natural the conversations feel.

Pick a provider

We support OpenAI, Groq, DeepSeek, and others. OpenAI is a safe choice if you’re not sure.

Select a model

For most use cases, GPT-4.1-mini hits the sweet spot between quality and speed. If you need maximum intelligence, try GPT-4.1. If speed is critical, Groq models are lightning fast.

Set the temperature

This controls how creative vs. predictable your agent is. Start with 0.7 — it’s a good balance. Lower (0.3) for strict factual responses, higher (0.9) for more creative ones.

Dive deeper into LLM settings

Learn about all the model options and when to use each one

Step 3: Pick a voice

This is where your agent gets its sound. It’s worth spending a few minutes here — the right voice makes a big difference.

Choose a provider

ElevenLabs has the most natural-sounding voices. Cartesia is the fastest. Try a few and see what feels right for your brand.

Browse voices

Click Preview on any voice to hear a sample. Look for one that matches the personality you want — professional, friendly, calm, energetic.

Adjust the speed

Leave it at 1.0x unless you have a reason to change it. Slightly faster (1.1x) can feel more energetic; slightly slower (0.9x) can feel more thoughtful.

Explore all voice options

Compare providers, preview voices, and learn about voice cloning

Step 4: Add tools (optional)

Tools let your agent do things, not just talk. Want it to check order status? Book appointments? Look up customer info? That’s what tools are for.

Add a tool

Click Add Tool and give it a name like check_order_status or book_appointment.

Describe what it does

Write a clear description — this helps the AI know when to use it. Example: “Use this when the customer asks about their order status.”

Connect it to your system

Enter the webhook URL that handles the actual work. When the agent decides to use this tool, we’ll call your URL and pass along the details.

Don’t have tools set up yet? That’s fine — you can always add them later. Your agent will work without them; it just won’t be able to take actions.

Learn how tools work

Full guide to setting up tools, webhooks, and integrations

Step 5: Set a schedule (optional)

By default, your agent is available 24/7. If you want it to follow business hours, set that up here.

Set your timezone

Pick your business timezone so the hours make sense.

Configure your hours

Toggle days on or off, and set the time range for each day.

What happens outside business hours? You can have the agent:

Tell callers your hours and end the call
Take a message
Transfer to an after-hours number

Scheduling options

Set up business hours, holidays, and after-hours handling

Step 6: Enable features (optional)

These are extra capabilities you can turn on:

Fillers — Add natural “um” and “uh” sounds while thinking
Call transfers — Hand off to humans when needed
Knowledge base — Give your agent documents to reference
Silence management — Handle awkward pauses gracefully

Each feature has its own settings. Browse them and enable what makes sense for your use case.

Explore all features

Full list of available features and how to configure them

Step 7: Set up webhooks (optional)

Webhooks notify your systems when things happen — a call starts, a call ends, the agent needs help.

Add a start webhook

Get notified when a call begins. Useful for logging or pulling up customer info.

Add a result webhook

Get the full transcript and outcome when a call ends. This is how most people integrate with their CRM.

Webhook setup guide

Learn about webhook events, payloads, and security

Step 8: Save and test

Almost there! Let’s make sure everything works.

Check for errors

Look through each tab for any validation warnings. Fix anything that’s flagged.

Save your agent

Click Save Agent. Your configuration is now live.

Test it

Click Test to start a conversation in your browser. Talk to it like a real customer would.

Review the results

After your test call, go to Calls to see the transcript and timing details. This is where you’ll spot things to improve.

Congratulations! You’ve built a complete voice agent. From here, it’s all about testing, learning, and refining.

Building with the API?

If you prefer code, here’s how to create an agent programmatically:

API example: Create an agent

const response = await fetch('https://blackbox.dasha.ai/api/v1/agents', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: "Customer Support Agent",
    isEnabled: true,
    config: {
      primaryLanguage: "en-US",
      llmConfig: {
        vendor: "openai",
        model: "gpt-4.1-mini",
        prompt: "You are a helpful customer support agent...",
        options: { temperature: 0.7 }
      },
      ttsConfig: {
        vendor: "ElevenLabs",
        model: "eleven_flash_v2_5",
        voiceId: "21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM",
        speed: 1.0
      }
    }
  })
});

const agent = await response.json();
console.log('Created agent:', agent.agentId);

What’s next?

Test your agent

Learn testing strategies and how to debug issues

Get a phone number

Put your agent on a real phone line

Add to your website

Embed your agent as a web widget

Go to production

Everything to check before going live

Introduction

Create

Test

Deploy

Monitor

Advanced Features

Troubleshooting

Before you start

What we’re setting up

Step 1: Basic information

Step 2: Choose your AI model

Dive deeper into LLM settings

Step 3: Pick a voice

Explore all voice options

Step 4: Add tools (optional)

Learn how tools work

Step 5: Set a schedule (optional)

Scheduling options

Step 6: Enable features (optional)

Explore all features

Step 7: Set up webhooks (optional)

Webhook setup guide

Step 8: Save and test

Building with the API?

What’s next?

Test your agent

Get a phone number

Add to your website

Go to production

​Before you start

​What we’re setting up

​Step 1: Basic information

​Step 2: Choose your AI model

Dive deeper into LLM settings

​Step 3: Pick a voice

Explore all voice options

​Step 4: Add tools (optional)

Learn how tools work

​Step 5: Set a schedule (optional)

Scheduling options

​Step 6: Enable features (optional)

Explore all features

​Step 7: Set up webhooks (optional)

Webhook setup guide

​Step 8: Save and test

​Building with the API?

​What’s next?

Test your agent

Get a phone number

Add to your website

Go to production

Before you start

What we’re setting up

Step 1: Basic information

Step 2: Choose your AI model

Step 3: Pick a voice

Step 4: Add tools (optional)

Step 5: Set a schedule (optional)

Step 6: Enable features (optional)

Step 7: Set up webhooks (optional)

Step 8: Save and test

Building with the API?

What’s next?