← The Agent Workshop Edition 01 · an illustrated field guide
Station 04 · The Pattern Library

Twelve shapes, one anatomy.

A wall of specimen cards. Each one is a common agent in real-world use today. Skim them. Pick one or two that sound most like what you'd build first.

🤖
Pip thinks…

Each card shows: who it serves, what it does in one line, how it flows (Reads → Agent → Posts), and a rough effort/value tag. Notice they're all the same five parts in different clothes.

Customer-facing

Where the inbox meets the brand voice.

Pip sorting envelopes into trays with chat bubbles.
Customer

Support ticket triage

Read every new ticket, route by topic, draft replies to the easy ones.

Inbox→Agent→Drafts
EffortLow ValueHigh
Pip with a clipboard beside a return box.
Customer

Returns & refund classifier

Sort returns by reason, flag suspicious ones, surface trends to the buyer.

Returns→Agent→Tags
EffortLow ValueHigh
Pip reading a review card with stars on it, drafting a reply.
Customer

Review responder

Watch reviews, draft calm replies to negatives, summarise themes weekly.

Reviews→Agent→Drafts
EffortLow ValueMid
Operations

Numbers that watch themselves.

Pip beside a small bar chart with an up-arrow.
Ops

Daily sales briefing

Yesterday's numbers vs last year, with one short sentence on why.

Sales DB→Agent→Chat
EffortLow ValueHigh
Pip in front of warehouse shelves with one shelf flagged.
Ops

Inventory watchdog

Spot SKUs about to stock out, surface a tight shortlist to purchasing.

Stock + sales→Agent→Shortlist
EffortMid ValueHigh
Pip with an envelope and an overdue clock icon.
Ops

Invoice chaser

Draft polite reminders for overdue invoices on a quiet schedule.

Invoices→Agent→Drafts
EffortMid ValueHigh
Pip looking at a chart with one tall bar through a magnifier.
Ops

Anomaly detector

Notice when a number drifts outside its normal band. Name it in plain English.

Warehouse→Agent→Alert
EffortMid ValueHigh
Marketing

The drafting partner, not the creative.

Pip watching a small ad dashboard with one tile pulsing.
Marketing

Ad ops monitor

Watch ROAS and spend, flag campaigns that drifted overnight.

Ads API→Agent→Chat
EffortMid ValueMid
Pip with binoculars looking at distant shop fronts.
Marketing

Competitor watcher

Notice price, copy, and product page changes on a curated list of rivals.

Scrape→Agent→Digest
EffortMid ValueMid
Internal leverage

The team's invisible note-taker.

Pip with an audio waveform turning into a written note.
Internal

Meeting → action items

Turn a transcript into a short shared note: decisions, owners, deadlines.

Transcript→Agent→Doc
EffortLow ValueMid
Pip with a document showing a checkmark stamp and one flag.
Internal

Compliance reviewer

Pre-flight check a document against a policy and flag the gaps.

Doc→Agent→Review
EffortMid ValueMid
Owner / Founder

One short note before the day starts.

Pip with a coffee mug and a briefing card, morning feel.
Founder

Daily briefing

One short morning note: yesterday's numbers, today's calendar, this week's risks.

Everywhere→Agent→Email
EffortMid ValueHigh
The shape repeats. The data changes.
Try this, before you scroll on

Which two would you most want?

Pick the two specimens that made you nod. We'll narrow to one in the next station.

You finished Station 04
Pattern Spotter sticker — Pip with binoculars in a cyan ring.

Pattern Spotter

Fourth sticker. Five more to collect.