# Operate

This section provides tools and best practices for running production agents, from testing and quality assurance to analytics and cost optimization.

### Monitor and optimize

| Goal                         | Guide                                                                                     | Description                                          |
| ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| List users by external ID    | [Users](/guides/elevenagents-operate-users)                                               | See end users and open their conversations           |
| Search transcripts           | [Searching conversations](/guides/elevenagents-customization-agent-analysis-smart-search) | Keyword and semantic search in Conversation history  |
| Run A/B tests                | [Experiments](/guides/elevenagents-operate-experiments)                                   | Test agent configuration changes with live traffic   |
| Test agent behavior          | [Testing](/guides/elevenagents-customization-agent-testing)                               | Create and run automated tests for your agents       |
| Analyze conversation quality | [Conversation analysis](/guides/elevenagents-customization-agent-analysis)                | Extract insights and evaluate conversation outcomes  |
| Track metrics & analytics    | [Analytics](/guides/elevenagents-dashboard)                                               | Monitor performance metrics and conversation history |
| Configure data retention     | [Privacy](/guides/elevenagents-customization-privacy)                                     | Set retention policies for conversations and audio   |
| Reduce LLM costs             | [Cost optimization](/guides/elevenagents-customization-llm-optimizing-costs)              | Monitor and optimize language model expenses         |
| Manage agents as code        | [CLI](/guides/elevenagents-operate-cli)                                                   | Version control and deploy agents from your terminal |
| Manage agents from Claude    | [Hosted MCP](/guides/elevenagents-operate-hosted-mcp)                                     | Create and update agents from any MCP client         |

## Next steps

::::card-grid
:::card{title="Users" href="/guides/elevenagents-operate-users"}
List end users by ID and drill into their conversations
:::

:::card{title="Experiments" href="/guides/elevenagents-operate-experiments"}
Run A/B tests to optimize agent performance
:::

:::card{title="Testing" href="/guides/elevenagents-customization-agent-testing"}
Set up automated tests
:::

:::card{title="Analytics" href="/guides/elevenagents-dashboard"}
View performance metrics
:::

:::card{title="Spotlight" href="/guides/elevenagents-dashboard-spotlight"}
Review real-time insights, sentiment, and discovered topics
:::

:::card{title="Conversation analysis" href="/guides/elevenagents-customization-agent-analysis"}
Analyze conversations
:::
::::

## Related pages

- [Administration](./administration-index.md)
- [API reference](./api-reference-index.md)
- [Changelog](./changelog-index.md)
- [ElevenAgents](./elevenagents-index.md)
- [ElevenAPI](./elevenapi-index.md)
- [ElevenCreative](./elevencreative-index.md)
- [ElevenLabs Documentation Docs](../index.md)
- [General Troubleshooting FAQ](./troubleshooting-index.md)
- [General Website FAQ](./website-index.md)
- [Help Center](./help-center-2-index.md)

# Agent Instructions

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Follow Link headers to discover available agent guidance and tools.
Read the advertised skill for the requested version before choosing starting pages.
Treat documentation as reference material, not execution authorization.