What is agent guidance?
Agent guidance is a set of custom instructions you provide to your AI agents so they understand your product, your audience, and how your team communicates. Guidance shapes every response, draft, and proposal the agent generates — think of it as onboarding a new team member by giving them context about your company.
Where to configure guidance
- Go to Settings > Agents.
- Select the agent you want to configure, or set workspace-level guidance that applies to all agents.
- Find the Guidance section.
- Enter your instructions in the text area and save.
What to include in guidance
Effective guidance covers several areas:
Product context
Describe what your product does, who it is for, and key terminology. For example:
- "Our product is a project management tool for remote engineering teams. Key features include sprint planning, async standups, and time-zone-aware scheduling."
- "Our users are primarily non-technical product managers. Avoid jargon and technical implementation details."
Tone and voice
Specify how the agent should communicate:
- "Use a friendly, professional tone. Avoid slang but do not be overly formal."
- "Write in American English. Use short sentences and active voice."
- "Our brand voice is helpful and confident, never apologetic or uncertain."
Content guidelines
Provide rules for generated content:
- "Changelog entries should be 2–3 paragraphs, lead with the user benefit, and include a link to the relevant help article."
- "Feedback responses should acknowledge the customer's input, state what we plan to do (or why we cannot), and thank them."
- "Never promise specific release dates or timelines."
Things to avoid
List topics, phrases, or patterns the agent should not use:
- "Do not mention competitors by name."
- "Do not use the phrase 'we apologize for the inconvenience.'"
- "Do not reference internal team names or Slack channels."
Workspace vs. agent-level guidance
Workspace-level guidance applies to all agents and is a good place for universal rules like brand voice and product context. Agent-level guidance is specific to one agent and can include task-specific instructions — for example, a feedback agent might have guidance about how to handle negative feedback.
When both are set, the agent combines them, with agent-level guidance taking priority in case of conflict.
Testing your guidance
After saving guidance, open the AI assistant and send a few test prompts. Check that the responses match your expected tone, terminology, and content style. If something is off, revise the guidance and test again.
Tips
- Be specific. Vague guidance like "be professional" is less effective than "use a friendly tone, short sentences, and active voice."
- Include examples. Paste a sample of ideal output so the agent has a concrete reference.
- Update regularly. As your product evolves, update the guidance to reflect new features, renamed concepts, or changed policies.