Summary
AWS is deprecating the Claude Haiku 3 models and Bedrock Agents Classic that the current AI Guides V1 model depends on. As a result, AI Guides V1 must be retired, and we're using this transition to move customers to the more reliable AI Guides V2 runtime.
AI Guide authors can easily use the features to build based on a document or a prompt to rebuild their guide under the V2 framework, including using the validator to ensure the guide will work effectively.
Effective Date
Monday, August 31, 2026
Details
AI Guides V1 is built on AWS Bedrock infrastructure - specifically the Claude Haiku 3 models and Bedrock Agents Classic - that AWS is deprecating. Because V1 cannot run without this underlying infrastructure, migration to V2 is required, not optional.
This transition also brings a meaningful upgrade: the new AI Guides V2 model is far more reliable than the legacy V1 model. We've implemented a more robust harness around the user-written prompt to ensure directions are more closely followed, turning the interaction into an intelligent, AI-powered script rather than an open-ended model prompt. This provides the reliability that the Virtual Agent will always stick to the script as written, while allowing the flexibility to pull in side questions answered by knowledge. For a fully agentic, yet still reliable end user experience, also check out the Agentic Virtual Agent in AI Studio, powered by a Large Action Model (LAM).
AI Guides are a good fit when you have a pre-determined process that must be followed, but you still want to provide a highly conversational experience, allowing for a wide variety of information to be collected, side questions answered along the way, etc. AVA is a better fit for a more flexible, goal-oriented experience that still aligns with your business processes and guidelines.
Customer Impact
Because the underlying AWS infrastructure (Haiku 3 models and Bedrock Agents Classic) is being deprecated, customers currently using AI Guides V1 need to migrate their guides to the V2 model by creating a new guide as outlined above. On August 31, V1 Guides will no longer function at runtime - this is a hard infrastructure cutoff, not a gradual sunset. V1 Guides will still be viewable in AI Studio, but the preview panel in AI Studio, as well as when a Call Guide block is activated in an Architect Flow, will throw an error at runtime.
Contacts
@Mitchell Mason
Please reply to this announcement with any questions. This helps the wider developer community benefit from the discussion. We encourage you to use this thread before contacting the designated person directly. Thank you for your understanding.
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Mitchell Mason
Principal Product Manager, Virtual Agent
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