# Build

## What this is

This page explains how to create a Protege, review its plan, finish setup, and publish it.

A Protege is an automation you describe in plain language. Hookshot™ turns that description into a reviewed plan with trigger access, tool access, schedules, and setup checks.

## When to use it

Use this page when you are creating a new automation or editing an existing Protege from the Builder.

## What you need first

* A clear workflow goal
* Access to the apps the Protege should read from or write to
* Permission to create or edit Proteges in your workspace

## Steps

### 1. Start from Proteges

Open **Proteges**, then choose **New Protege**.

The Builder opens a chat workspace where you can describe the workflow in plain language.

### 2. Describe the workflow

Include the three most important details:

* **What starts it:** an event, chat message, or schedule
* **What it decides:** the condition, routing logic, or judgment it should apply
* **What it produces:** the message, update, task, issue, or other action it should create

Good first prompt:

> When a new urgent Linear issue is created, summarize it and post the summary to the support triage Slack channel.

### 3. Answer clarification questions

The Builder may ask follow-up questions when the workflow is missing a required detail.

Answer with the smallest useful scope, such as one project, repo, channel, team, or schedule. If the Builder needs time to refine the plan after your answer, keep the session open until the next question or plan appears.

### 4. Review the plan

The plan shows the proposed trigger, tools, integrations, and expected behavior.

Before accepting it, check:

* The trigger matches the source event or schedule you want
* The tools match the actions the Protege is allowed to take
* The output is specific enough to verify later
* The plan does not include a broader scope than you intended

{% hint style="warning" %}
If the plan has no trigger or schedule, Hookshot can still save the draft, but the Protege is not ready for automatic runs until setup is complete.
{% endhint %}

### 5. Accept the plan

Accept the plan when the behavior is correct. After acceptance, Hookshot keeps you in review and setup so you can finish the remaining readiness checks before go-live.

### 6. Finish setup

Resolve any setup blockers:

* Connect required integrations
* Choose or configure trigger sources
* Confirm tool access
* Add a schedule for schedule-only Proteges
* Review any required fields or waiting webhook states

### 7. Publish when ready

Publish only after the setup page shows no blocking issues and the Protege has a clear verification path.

For a first rollout, keep the Protege narrow and test it with one known-safe event or schedule.

## How to verify

You are ready to publish when:

* The plan matches your intended workflow
* Required integrations are connected
* Trigger Access and Tool Access are complete
* Any schedule is enabled and scoped correctly
* You know what event or schedule will test the Protege
* You know where to check Event Feed and Audit afterward

## Common failures

* Describing the desired result but not the trigger
* Accepting a plan with broader access than intended
* Publishing before required service connections are complete
* Forgetting to add a schedule for a schedule-only Protege
* Testing in Audit before confirming the event arrived in Event Feed

## Next step

* [Builder patterns](/create-a-protege/builder-patterns.md)
* [Skills Hub](/create-a-protege/skills-hub.md)
* [Readiness and blockers](/create-a-protege/readiness-and-blockers.md)
* [Event Feed](/event-feed.md)


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://gitbook.tryprotege.com/create-a-protege.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.