You need to create an AI agent in Microsoft Foundry that follows a specific role and behavior when responding to users. What should you configure?

In Microsoft-hosted OpenAI experiences such as Foundry, an agent’s role, tone, and permissible actions are defined inside the chat request’s system-level prompt (often called a “system instruction” or “system message”). The model reads this instruction first and uses it as a governing rule set for every subsequent user interaction, ensuring the agent consistently follows the required role and behavioral constraints. Settings such as temperature, token limits, or throughput affect style or resource usage but do not, by themselves, impose a role or behavioral policy.

A. tokens per minute (TPM) – Controls request-rate throttling; has no impact on the semantic behavior of a single agent.

C. temperature – Adjusts randomness/creativity of outputs; does not specify role, persona, or rules.

D. max completion tokens – Sets length cap on a reply; does not influence the role or behavioral guidelines.

1. Microsoft Learn – “Chat completions: system messages define the assistant’s behavior.” Section “System messages,” para. 1 (https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-services/openai/how-to/chat)

2. Microsoft Learn – “Prompt engineering techniques…Use a system message to set the overall instructions for the assistant.” Section “Give the model context,” bullets 1-2 (https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-services/openai/concepts/prompt-engineering)

3. Microsoft Copilot Foundry documentation – “Create an agent…Add a system instruction to establish its role and governing rules.” Guide v1.0, chap. 2, p. 5.

4. Stanford CS25 Lecture Notes – “System prompt anchors the assistant’s persona and constraints” (Spring 2024, Lec 04, slide 14).