Getting Started with shiftagent

quickstart beginner · 8 min · February 11, 2026 · shiftagent team

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

  • A shiftagent partner account (request access at shiftagent.io)
  • A web application where you’ll embed the agent interface
  • Basic familiarity with HTML and JavaScript

Step 1: Add the web component

The <shift-agent> web component is a single script tag that embeds the full agent interface into your application. Add it to any page:

<script src="https://cdn.shiftagent.io/embed.js"></script>
<shift-agent
  tenant-id="your-tenant-id"
  theme="dark"
></shift-agent>

The component renders inside a Shadow DOM, so it won’t conflict with your existing styles. It automatically handles authentication, theming, and responsive layout.

Step 2: Configure your tenant

Your tenant configuration lives in a git repository that shiftagent provisions for you. The repository structure follows a convention-over-configuration model:

.claude/
  CLAUDE.md          # Agent instructions and capabilities
  skills/            # Available agent skills
  tools/             # Tool definitions and configurations
playbooks/           # Business process definitions
  onboarding.yaml
  chargeback-response.yaml

Start by editing CLAUDE.md to define your agent’s persona, capabilities, and operational boundaries.

Step 3: Define your first playbook

Create a playbook in the playbooks/ directory. A minimal playbook defines a trigger, steps, and success criteria:

name: welcome-merchant
version: 1.0.0
trigger:
  event: merchant_onboarded

steps:
  - id: send_welcome
    action: send_email
    inputs:
      template: welcome
      recipient: "{{ trigger.merchant_email }}"

  - id: schedule_followup
    action: create_task
    inputs:
      title: "Follow up with {{ trigger.merchant_name }}"
      due_in_days: 3

Step 4: Test the integration

With the web component embedded and your tenant configured, open your application and interact with the agent. It will:

  1. Authenticate the user via your existing auth flow
  2. Load the tenant configuration from git
  3. Present the chat interface with available skills
  4. Execute playbooks when triggered by user actions or scheduled events

Next steps

  • Explore the Security guide to understand the zero-trust architecture
  • Read about Building Playbooks for advanced playbook patterns
  • Check the API Reference for programmatic agent management
onboardingembeddingweb-componentquickstart