Guidance Center

Overview

When an automation needs additional context or clarification to proceed, it will raise a question (also called an exception). In Kognitos, Exceptions are resolved by providing guidance — giving input to the system so it understands how to proceed. Using the Guidance Center, you can quickly provide guidance across automations to keep your processes running smoothly.

Getting Started

Access the Guidance Center from the top navigation menu. Here’s a quick walkthrough: ⬇️

Key Features

The Guidance Center contains the following key features:

Guidance Groups

Exceptions are grouped based on the automation step where each exception occurred. Using guidance groups, you can resolve similar issues together, instead of handling them individually.

Filters

Sort and filter exceptions by:

• Agent

• Assignee

• Status (Pending, Archived, Answered)

• Date (1 Week, 1 Month, 3 Months, Custom Range)

Exception Handling Modes

Use the Try New Flow toggle to switch between:

• Group Handling (Try New Flow: enabled) - Resolve multiple related exceptions at once.

• Individual Handling (Try New Flow: disabled) - Resolve exceptions one by one, a workflow used in the former Exception Center.

Providing Guidance

Providing guidance is the process of giving input (guidance) that helps the system understand how to resolve exceptions and continue execution. Guidance can take the form of a specific value, a decision to skip the issue, or another form of clarification. Additionally, guidance can be provided for individual exceptions or for an entire group of exceptions.

1. Group Exception Handling

Group exception handling allows you to resolve multiple exceptions at once. The Guidance Center automatically identifies and groups exceptions based on the automation step where each exception occurred. Instead of handling each exception individually, you can address the entire group. Additionally, group exception handling allows you to provide guidance using natural language instructions. Here's how:

1

Navigate to the Guidance Center

From the top navigation menu, go to the Guidance Center.

2

Try New Flow

Enable Try New Flow for group exception handling.

3

Select a Guidance Group

Select a guidance group by clicking on it.

4

View More Details

Open any run to view more details about an exception.

5

Provide Guidance in Natural Language

Provide instructions for resolving the exception. Then, click on Generate to create answer suggestions.

➡️ Best Practices

1. Be Specific

2. Use Overriding Commands

3. Specify Formatting

Provide clear instructions, including necessary context to avoid misinterpretations.

Copy

For the date, use the one from the invoice.

Copy

Match based on the Customer Name from the billing section.

If the system has pulled incorrect data, override it by clearly stating what to use and what to ignore.

Copy

Calculate the tip as 15% of the total. Ignore the tip in the document.

Copy

Set quantity to 0. Don’t use the value extracted from the scanned form.

Specify if you need data returned in a specific format (especially for dates or numbers).

Copy

Extract the date in YYYY-MM-DD format.

Copy

Return the amount with two decimal places.

6

Review Suggestions

Review the suggested answers. Hover over the ✨ icon to view an explanation summary.

7

Take Action

Decide how to handle each run, after reviewing the suggested answers. You can choose to submit, provide alternative guidance (individually or for multiple runs), or leave certain runs unresolved and return to them later.

Click on Choose another answer option to take an alternative action.

Individual Resolution Actions

These resolution actions can be taken on individual runs:

Provide Value

Compute the Answer

Skip this Step

Retry this Step

Enter your own answer directly, instead of using the system-generated suggestion. You can choose one of the following value types: Text, File Upload, or No Value. This option may be useful when the automation can’t infer the right answer.

Let the system calculate or derive the answer using available data or logic. You can use this when the answer isn’t directly available, but can be computed.

This option bypasses the step in the automation. This is helpful if the step is not applicable or doesn't need resolution at the moment. For this resolution method, you can also add a delay or timeout.

Note: Skipping a step may cause another exception if it resolves data that's needed later in the automation.

For example: An exception occurs with the message "Could not get a file as a scanned document". The user chooses the Skip this step option. Later, the automation attempts to reference the document, resulting in a new exception: "Please provide scanned document."

Use this option to re-execute the failed automation step. This may be helpful if the exception was caused by a network error, a timeout, or temporary issues.

Bulk Resolution Actions

Select one or more runs, then choose one of the following actions to apply to all:

Skip

Retry

Submit

Assign

Skip the current step for all the selected runs.

Retry the automation step for all the selected runs.

Submit answers across all the selected runs.

Assign the selected questions to a user.

2. Individual Exception Handling

The individual exception handling workflow (previously used in the Exception Center) is also available in the Guidance Center.

Resolution Methods

1. Write in answer

This method allows you to type in any value for the requested field.

2. Upload files

This method allows you to upload a local file for the automation to use.

3. Select from Document

Use this option to select the desired field from the document by clicking and dragging a box around it.

get the file
get the file as a scanned document
get the document's <some-field>

4. No Value

Use this option to indicate that no value is needed at this time. It's useful when the value is unavailable or not applicable. A dash ("-") will be used as a placeholder internally.

5. Retry

Use this option to re-execute the failed automation step. This may be helpful if the exception was caused by network error, a timeout, or temporary issues.

6. Retry after an interval

The automation can be re-executed after a certain period of time (determined by you).

7. Compute an answer

This method allows you to modify the automation to resolve the exception. Use the Mini-Playground to refine and test the automation without affecting the main process.

8. Skip this Step

This option bypasses the step in the automation.