# Q\&A without context

Let’s make our first recipe that calls out to an agent:

{% code title="qa\_simple.py" %}

```python
from fvalues import F

from ice.recipe import recipe


def make_qa_prompt(question: str) -> str:
    return F(
        f"""Answer the following question:

Question: "{question}"
Answer: "
"""
    ).strip()


async def answer(question: str = "What is happening on 9/9/2022?"):
    prompt = make_qa_prompt(question)
    answer = await recipe.agent().complete(prompt=prompt, stop='"')
    return answer


recipe.main(answer)
```

{% endcode %}

Wrapping f-strings in `fvalues.F` is entirely optional, but [it makes traces a little bit nicer to work with](https://github.com/oughtinc/ice/wiki/ICE-UI-guide#transparent-f-strings-using-fvalues).

Now let's try running this recipe:

```shell
python qa_simple.py
```

Looking at the trace, we see two nodes—one for the answer function we implemented, and one for the agent method call. If we click on the agent method, we see the exact prompt that was passed to the agent:

<figure><img src="/files/gIzBRzQ4UFEUYbG1im1V" alt=""><figcaption><p>Execution trace (<a href="https://ice.ought.org/traces/01GE0H8AM335QSV25E3ZYZ1PGM">view online</a>)</p></figcaption></figure>

We can run recipes in different modes, which controls what type of agent is used. Some examples:

* `machine`: Use an automated agent (usually GPT-3 if no hint is provided in the agent call). This is the default mode.
* `human`: Elicit answers from you using a command-line interface.
* `augmented`: Elicit answers from you, but providing the machine-generated answer as a default.

You specify the mode like this:

```shell
python qa_simple.py --mode human
```

Try running your recipe in different modes.

{% hint style="info" %}
Because the agent’s `answer` method is async, we use `await` when we call it.
{% endhint %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://primer.ought.org/chapters/question-answering/q-and-a-without-context.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.