How to use Instructions to personalize your Agents

Think of Instructions as little notes you give to your agent about how you want it to behave. Instead of reminding it every single time, you just write down the instructions once, and your agent will remember them for you.

Instructions are like your personal instructions. The agent will treat them as top priority and always try to follow them when helping you.

Why Use Instructions?

Without instructions, your agent will just respond in a general way. With instructions, you can shape how it talks, how it writes, and how it behaves.

Here are some examples:

• Email style instruction:

  “Write my emails short and polite. Always start with ‘Hi [Name],’ and end with ‘Thanks, [My Name].’”

• Tone instruction:

  “Talk in a friendly, casual way. Imagine you’re texting a friend.”

• Role instruction:

  “Behave like a lawyer. Use formal language, reference laws, and keep answers professional.”

• Formatting instruction:

  “Whenever you make a list, always use bullet points.”

• Creative instruction:

  “Whenever you suggest ideas, always give me at least three options.”

👉 The best part? You only need to write your instructions once per agent. After that, they apply across all chats with that agent.

How to Add Instructions

1. Go to the top menu on your right side of screen and click on Instructions.

   

2. The Instructions pop up will open. This is where you type your instructions.

   

3. Once saved, the instruction are linked to you only. Your team members won’t see or be affected by your instructions.

If you're in a project, you can set instructions specifically for that project. These instructions will automatically apply to all chats and all agents within the project.

Best Practices (Simple Tips)

• Be clear and specific

  ✅ “Write emails in this format:”

  ❌ “Make my emails nice.”

• Keep it short

  ✅ One or two sentences per rule.

  ❌ A giant wall of text.

• Don’t overload

  Too many instructions can confuse the agent. Stick to the important ones.

Instructions Are User-Specific, Not Team-Specific

It’s important to know: instructions belong only to you.

• Your teammates cannot see your instructions.

• Your teammates cannot use your instructions.

• If you and a teammate both use the same agent, your agent will follow your instructions, and theirs will follow their instructions.

✅ This means you can customize your agents without worrying about messing up how your colleagues use theirs.

Conflicting Instructions

Sometimes people try to write two instructions that say opposite things. For example:

❌ “Write emails in a short, casual style.”

❌ “Write emails in a long, formal style.”

Or:

❌ “Format emails with bullet points.”

❌ “Format emails with numbers.”

This can confuse the agent. The agent might not know which one to follow, and the results won’t be consistent.

👉 Best practice: If you want your agent to write emails in a special way, just give one clear example instead of two.

✅ Example of a good instruction:

“Write emails in this format:

Hi [Name],

Here is the update you asked for…

Thanks, [My Name]”

More Example Instructions

Here’s a bunch of ideas you can copy and tweak:

• “Always answer in a calm, reassuring tone.”

• “When I ask about numbers, show the answer in a table.”

• “Keep replies under 200 words.”

• “Add emojis at the end of casual messages 🙂.”

• “When writing product updates, use bullet points with titles in bold.”

• “If I ask about documents, summarize them in 3–4 sentences.”

• “If I ask for a joke, keep it family-friendly.”