How to write your agent's prompt
Write the instructions your AI agent follows in every conversation, validate their length, and save them.
Last updated 20 days ago
Your agent's prompt is the set of instructions it follows in every conversation: who it is, what it does, how it talks, and what it must not do. In this guide, we’ll explain how to set up the prompt by hand and update it.
Before you start: Create the agent first. See How to create a new agent.
Step 1: Open your agent's prompt
In the left menu, open Agents and select your agent. In the agent’s configuration tabs, open Main, then select Prompt.
Next to it, Contact settings defines the contact data your agent collects. That has its own guide.
Step 2: Write the instructions
Write in the editor as if you were briefing a new team member. A clear prompt usually covers four parts:
Identity and goal: who the agent is, which business it represents, and what it helps customers do.
Tone: how it talks, and in which language it uses.
Rules: what it must always do and what it must never do.
Limits: what to do when it can't help, for example transfer the customer to a person or provide a phone number.
Tip: Write each rule as a concrete action. "Ask for the patient's name and phone number before booking" works better than "Be helpful", because the agent knows exactly what to do.
Step 3: Check the length
The prompt needs at least 100 characters. Below that, a message under the editor shows how many characters are missing, and it won’t allow you to save the instructions.
Under the editor, Context Window Usage shows how much of your agent's context window the prompt uses, in tokens. One token is about four characters, for reference. The context window is the space your agent works with in each reply, so the longer the prompt, the less room is left for the conversation.
Step 4: Save the prompt
Click Update below the editor, that way your agent uses the new prompt.
Important: If you later apply a different prompt using the Brief, it replaces the text in the editor directly. Copy your current prompt somewhere safe before you apply changes from the Brief.
Done
Your agent now follows your instructions. Test it with a few real questions from the customers, and adjust the prompt until the answers sound right.
Need help? Contact support from your platform's home view.
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