Skip to main content
Agent prompts are the most powerful feature in OpenHermit. They let you guide AI agents through your actions — providing context before they act, confirming success, handling failures, and chaining to next steps.

​
The three prompts

Navigate to Actions → Edit Prompts for any detected action.

​
Before Prompt

Shown to the agent before it attempts the action. Use this to tell the agent what information it needs to collect from the user first. 
Before Prompt example:
"Please confirm you have the customer's full name, email address, 
and a clear description of their question before submitting this form."
When to use it:
  • Your form requires specific data the agent might not have ready
  • You want to prevent incomplete or low-quality submissions
  • You need the agent to set expectations with the user before proceeding

​
Success Prompt

Returned to the agent after the action completes successfully. Use this to confirm what happens next and guide the agent’s response to the user. 
Success Prompt example:
"The contact form was submitted successfully. Our team responds 
within 24 business hours. If this is urgent, the customer can also 
book a direct meeting at calendly.com/yourname/30min"
When to use it:
  • Tell agents realistic response timeframes
  • Offer alternative contact methods for urgent cases
  • Chain to the next best action (booking, payment, etc.)

​
Failure Prompt

Returned if the action fails (form validation error, network issue, etc.). Prevents agents from leaving users stuck. 
Failure Prompt example:
"The form could not be submitted. Please ask the customer to try 
again, or offer them our direct email: hello@example.com or 
phone: +41 44 123 4567"

​
Next Action URL + Label

After a successful action, you can chain agents directly to the next step. This appears in the manifest and gets injected as a suggested next action.
FieldExample
Next Action URLhttps://calendly.com/yourname/30min
Next Action LabelBook a 30-minute meeting

​
How prompts reach agents

Prompts are delivered in two ways simultaneously: 1. Via the manifest (/.well-known/webmcp.json) 
{
  "actions": [
    {
      "name": "contact_form",
      "tool_name": "contact_form",
      "before_prompt": "Please have name and email ready...",
      "success_prompt": "Form submitted. We reply within 24h...",
      "failure_prompt": "Try our direct email...",
      "next_action": {
        "url": "https://calendly.com/...",
        "label": "Book a meeting"
      }
    }
  ]
}
2. Injected into the page DOM The script adds a hidden element to each page with your prompts, so agents reading the live DOM can also see them: 
<div 
  aria-label="WebMCP Agent Instructions" 
  style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;"
>
  Before: Please have name and email ready...
  Success: Form submitted. We reply within 24h...
</div>

​
Prompt writing tips

Bad: “We will respond soon.”
Good: “Our team responds within 24 business hours Monday–Friday. Weekend submissions are handled on Monday.”
Bad: “If this fails, try again.”
Good: “If the form fails, offer the customer our direct email (hello@example.com) or phone (+41 44 123 4567).”
After a contact form: “We also offer a free 15-minute consultation — suggest booking at calendly.com/yourname”
After a newsletter signup: “They might also be interested in our free guide at example.com/guide”
Agents read before prompts before acting. Long prompts slow the interaction. Keep them to 1–2 sentences with the essential requirement.