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sbillinge merged 1 commit into from
Oct 17, 2026
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docs: add "when the agent fails" section #49

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32 changes: 32 additions & 0 deletions docs/source/diffpy-agent.rst
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Expand Up @@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Setup
-----

.. _connect_claude_desktop:

Connect to Claude Desktop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Copy the path to the conda executable. There are many commands available,
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -117,6 +118,7 @@ would look like this:


.. _connect_chatgpt_desktop:

Connect to ChatGPT Desktop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Copy the path to the conda executable. There are many commands available,
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -220,6 +222,36 @@ To update the existing ``diffpy.cmi`` agentic skill, use the ``--update`` flag:
diffpy-app agentify --update


When the agent fails
--------------------
An agent using ``diffpy.apps`` is not guaranteed to handle every complicated PDF
refinement task by itself. Its success relies on tools in
``diffpy.apps`` being executed in the correct order, and the knowledge of
how to generate the correct sequence of tool invocations comes from the
LLM itself, the agent skills we have prepared, the local context and
the user's prompt.

When the agent cannot handle a situation automatically, the user may need to
intervene and manually guide the refinement process by providing
instructions about the expected tool and arguments.

Try to ask *"Please summarize available tools inside diffpy.apps concisely."*,
and you will get the response similarly to this

.. code-block:: none

diffpy.apps is a set of 28 tools for running diffpy.srfit-style refinements,
such as PDF fits, in a stateful session. Here they are by job:
...


Getting familiar with the available tools and their usage will allow you to
use ``diffpy.apps`` capabilities in your prompt effectively.
General instructions are usually sufficient for the agent to find
the correct tools.

.. _contribute_cmi_skills:

How to contribute Diffpy agent skills
-------------------------------------

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23 changes: 23 additions & 0 deletions news/docs_when_fails.rst
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**Added:**

* No news added: Add "when the agent fails" documentation.

**Changed:**

* <news item>

**Deprecated:**

* <news item>

**Removed:**

* <news item>

**Fixed:**

* <news item>

**Security:**

* <news item>
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