Abstain from Answering Agent
The Abstain from Answering agent stops Ema from producing a response on a particular workflow branch and returns a short justification. Use it when the AI Employee should explicitly decline to answer -- for example, when a query is off-topic, when search results are insufficient, or when a policy prohibits responding.
Use Cases
- Route sensitive or regulated topics (legal, HR, compliance) away from AI-generated responses.
- Defer to a human agent when escalation criteria are met.
- Suppress replies for out-of-scope, duplicate, or spam tickets.
- Hold responses during incident management or maintenance windows.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
abstain_reason | String | No | Specify the reason for Ema to abstain (e.g., sensitive issues). |
Outputs
| Output | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
abstain_reason | String | If abstain_reason is provided, returns "Abstained because - {reason}". If omitted, returns "Abstaining from responding". |
Configurations
None.
How to Use This Agent
In a support workflow, route off-topic queries to Abstain from Answering instead of generating a response:
chat_trigger -> categorizer -> [off_topic branch] -> abstain_from_answering -> workflow_output
-> [on_topic branch] -> search -> respond -> workflow_outputRelated Agents
- Response Validator -- validates responses against quality criteria; use upstream to decide whether to abstain.
- Categorizer -- classifies input so you can route to the abstain branch.