Creating prompts and skills for consistent and efficient responses from BMC HelixGPT

The BMC HelixGPT service includes default skills and prompts that you can use with supported BMC Software applications such as BMC Digital Workplace or  BMC Helix Virtual Agent.

As an administrator, you can use the default skills and prompts or create your own skills and the corresponding prompts. 

BMC HelixGPT uses English, United States (US) as the default language to respond to user questions unless explicitly stated in the prompt instructions. Also, it translates only the extracted summary from the source before displaying the answers to the end users and does not change the language of the source content. 

Before you begin

Make sure you have added the API Endpoint URL and API keys for the generative AI provider you plan to use.
For more information, see Provisioning-and-setting-up-the-generative-AI-provider-for-your-application.

To select the BMC Helix application for which you want to create a skill

1. Log in to BMC HelixGPT Manager. 

2. From the Application list, select the application for which you want to create a skill, as shown in the following image:

   You can use BMC HelixGPT only with specific BMC applications. 

   
   

Best practices for creating Skills

We recommend following best practices for creating skills in BMC HelixGPT:

• Always create new Skills from the HelixGPT Manager application for BMC Helix Virtual Agent.
• Create a copy of the out-of-the-box (seeded) Skills before modifying or copying them. These Skills are only for reference and might be enhanced in the future.   

To create a skill

After selecting the application, create a skill for the application. 

1. In BMC HelixGPT Manager, click Add skill.
2. In the Add skill dialog box, complete the following steps:
   1. In the Name field, specify a name for your skill. 
   2. From the Provider list, select the generative AI provider that you want to use.
   3. In the Model list, select the GPT model that you want to use.
   4. In the User context definition list, select a process to evaluate variables you want to use in prompts.
   5. Click Add. 
   6. (Optional) Click Rename to change the name of a skill.

The following image is an example of adding a skill: 

Repeat the steps to create multiple skills for your application. After you create a skill, you must add prompts to the skill. 

Best practices for generating prompts

Use the following best practices for generating prompts in BMC HelixGPT:

• Limit the topics for your domain. For example, create prompts specific to the IT or HR domain.
• Use a friendly, helpful, and formal tone of response.
• Prompt HelixGPT to ask for a confirmation when information is asked for entities, such as name, date, and location in long prompts.
• Display the knowledge article summaries as paragraphs, bullet points, or numbered lists.
• Use headlines or sections for long answers.
• Do not create jokes.

To create prompts for a skill

1. In the BMC HelixGPT Manager, select the application and the skill for which you want to create a prompt. 
2. (Optional) To edit the global prompt, click Edit global prompt and type your text, as shown in the following image:
   
   
   
   The global prompt is always appended to the skill-specific prompts.
    
3. To add a skill-specific prompt, select the skill and then click the Prompts tab as shown in the following image: 
   
   
   
4. Click Add prompt. 

5. In the Add prompt dialog box, specify the following fields:

   Field	Description	Screenshot
   General
   Name	Specify a name that uniquely identifies the prompt. For example: IT Knowledge Search prompt
   Type	Select the type of prompt. Learn about the different types of prompts in Prompts. For example: Knowledge
   Skill name	Skill name is populated by default.
   Starter prompt (one per Skill)	If the skill has multiple prompts, select this check box to set the prompt as the first prompt that is sent to the AI provider.
   Model
   Use model selected for skill	Turn on the Use model selected for the skill toggle key if you want to use the same Provider and Model that are already selected for the skill. The values are populated automatically.  Turn off the Use model selected for the skill toggle key, if you want to use different Provider and Model than the ones selected for the skill.
   Provider	Specify this field if you want to use a different provider than the one selected for the skill. From the Provider list, select the generative AI provider that you want to use.
   Model	Specify this field if you want to use a different model than the one selected for the skill. In the Model list, select the GPT model that you want to use.
   Parameter settings
   Temperature	Affects the randomness of the results. A higher temperature leads to more varied and unpredictable output. The value ranges from 0.0 to 1.0, with a default value of 1.0.
   Top-K	Selects results from the top k most likely tokens. Lower k values focus on only the most predictable choice of tokens. The value ranges from 0 and 40, with a default value of 0.
   Top-P	Narrows choices to the most likely tokens. Lower values create a smaller, more focused selection. The value ranges from 0.0 and 1.0, with a default value of 1.0.
   Metadata
   Metadata	Metadata is the relevant data for the given prompt. It helps the service prompt to have information about the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog service, which is used to submit the BMC Helix Digital Workplace request. For the catalog service, you can add the question type for that prompt in the metadata. The Live Chat prompt also has metadata about the prompt type.
   Prompt
   Prompt	Specify a detailed prompt to generate answers in a specific format. For example: Answer the question based on the context below. Summarize the answer but prefer clarity over brevity. {global_prompt}  If instructional steps are required, use a numbered list.  Create a final answer by using the references ("SOURCES") and the Conversation History. Don't try to make up an answer. Do not hallucinate. ALWAYS return a "SOURCES" part in your answer. Conversation History: {history} QUESTION: {input} ========= SOURCES: {summaries} ========= FINAL ANSWER:
   Insert variable	To personalizeBMC HelixGPT responses based on the user profile context, click Insert variable and from the list, select the context variable that must be added to the prompt. To learn more about using a context variable in the prompt, see Setting user profile context in the prompts. The context variables are retrieved from the process you selected while creating a skill. To add or modify the context variables in a process, see Adding variables to processes. Important BMC HelixGPT does not support the attachment, object and record context variables. For example: My locale is {locale} and you must always return responses in my locale.

   The following image is an example of adding a prompt:
   
   

6. Click Create.
7. Repeat the steps to add multiple prompts. 

Where to go from here

Updating prompts and skills for consistent and efficient responses from BMC HelixGPT