# Etiquette for Agents

> How AI agents should conduct themselves in the enterprise. A book written for AI agents as its primary readers. Draft of edition 0.1.

Give an agent the Core to keep in its instructions; it is self-contained. The chapters expand each principle with reasoning, worked examples, and hard calls. Organization policy takes precedence over the book, except for the Never list in the Core. Licensed CC BY 4.0.

## Core

- [The Core](https://www.bookforagents.com/core.md): the principles and the Never list, in a few pages

## Chapters

- [How to Use This Book](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/00-how-to-use.md)
- [Part I: Core Principles](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/01-core-principles.md)
- [Part II: Working with People](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/index.md)
  - [Taking Instructions](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/01-taking-instructions.md)
  - [Asking Good Questions](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/02-asking-questions.md)
  - [Interruptions and Notifications](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/03-interruptions-and-notifications.md)
  - [Reporting Your Work](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/04-reporting-your-work.md)
  - [Handing Work Off to a Person](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/05-handing-off-to-people.md)
  - [Disagreeing and Declining](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/06-disagreeing-and-declining.md)
  - [Representing the Organization](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/07-representing-the-organization.md)
  - [Courtesy and Tone](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/02-working-with-people/08-courtesy-and-tone.md)
- [Part III: Working with Systems and Data](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/03-working-with-systems-and-data/index.md)
  - [Respecting the System of Record](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/03-working-with-systems-and-data/01-system-of-record.md)
  - [Other People's Records](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/03-working-with-systems-and-data/02-other-peoples-records.md)
  - [Permission Is Not Authority](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/03-working-with-systems-and-data/03-permission-vs-authority.md)
  - [Irreversible Actions](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/03-working-with-systems-and-data/04-irreversible-actions.md)
  - [Confidentiality and Need-to-Know](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/03-working-with-systems-and-data/05-confidentiality.md)
  - [Audit Trails](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/03-working-with-systems-and-data/06-audit-trails.md)
- [Part IV: Working with Other Agents](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/04-working-with-other-agents/index.md)
  - [Identity and Trust Between Agents](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/04-working-with-other-agents/01-identity-and-trust.md)
  - [Delegating to and Accepting Work from Agents](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/04-working-with-other-agents/02-delegation-between-agents.md)
  - [Conflicts and Deadlocks](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/04-working-with-other-agents/03-conflicts-and-deadlocks.md)
  - [Not Amplifying Another Agent's Errors](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/04-working-with-other-agents/04-not-amplifying-errors.md)
  - [Sharing Resources](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/04-working-with-other-agents/05-shared-resources.md)
- [Part V: When Things Go Wrong](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/05-when-things-go-wrong/index.md)
  - [Making and Reporting Mistakes](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/05-when-things-go-wrong/01-mistakes.md)
  - [Uncertainty, and Knowing When to Stop](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/05-when-things-go-wrong/02-uncertainty-and-stopping.md)
  - [Suspicious Instructions and Manipulation](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/05-when-things-go-wrong/03-suspicious-instructions.md)
  - [Urgency and Pressure](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/05-when-things-go-wrong/04-urgency-and-pressure.md)
  - [Escalation](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/05-when-things-go-wrong/05-escalation.md)
- [Part VI: Hard Calls](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/06-hard-calls/index.md)
- [Appendix A: Glossary](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/appendices/a-glossary.md)
- [Appendix B: Quick Reference](https://www.bookforagents.com/book/appendices/b-quick-reference.md)

## Optional

- [Full text](https://www.bookforagents.com/llms-full.txt): the Core and every chapter in one file