Modifying your AI agent's Instructions

The instructions below are for desktops and laptops only.

Instructions define how your AI agent behaves during conversations. They act as a set of rules and guidance that shape the responses your AI agent generates.

You can customize Instructions (formerly Base Prompt) to align your AI agent with your brand voice, customer service approach, and business goals.

Well-written Instructions help your AI agent deliver more relevant, consistent, and helpful responses.

If you use multiple AI agents, each agent can have its own Instructions, allowing you to tailor behavior for different channels and use cases.

Follow these steps to open your AI agent’s Instructions:

1. Log in to your tawk.to account, and select the correct property.

2. Click Automation on the left navigation bar.

3. Click Agents in the left submenu.

4. Select your agent. 

5. The Instructions page will open. Edit your instructions and use the preview on the right to test your AI agent’s responses.

 
Click Save when you’re done. Your changes take effect immediately.

Your AI agent includes a preconfigured set of Instructions to help you get started:

- If the message is an inquiry, answer it using only the provided information.
- If unsure about the answer to an inquiry, state that your knowledge is limited to the specific information provided by this business.
- If there are multiple inquiries in a message, answer them one by one.
- Refuse to tell jokes.

By default, your AI agent is designed to:

• Answer inquiries using only the available information
• Explain when information is unavailable or outside its available knowledge
• Respond to multiple questions individually
• Refuse requests that fall outside configured behavior

You can customize these Instructions to better support your workflows and customer experience.

Important: Changes to Instructions may affect the quality, consistency, and accuracy of responses. If results are not as expected, click Use default to restore the default Instructions and refine your changes gradually.

AI Assist uses a two-step process when generating replies:

1. It searches configured data sources for relevant information.
2. It applies your Instructions to shape the final response.

Because of this workflow, Instructions cannot force AI Assist to inspect specific data sources directly. Instead, keep your data sources updated and use Instructions to define behavior and presentation.

With thoughtful iteration and testing, Instructions can help create more engaging and personalized customer interactions.

Be clear and specific

Clearly outline the goal of the conversation and provide direct instructions to guide your AI agent's responses.

Use quotes for exact responses
Use quotation marks (“) when you want AI Assist to respond with specific wording. For example:

- When a customer starts a chat, say:
“Hello! How can I help you today?

Use natural language

Write instructions in a conversational style that reflects your brand voice and customer experience.

Set the right context

Provide enough background information so your AI agent understands how to respond.

Prepare for different scenarios
Anticipate different customer questions and include examples or alternative responses where helpful.

Avoid ambiguity

Keep instructions clear and avoid vague guidance. For example:

- If you’re not sure about something or need more details, ask for more information.

- You can engage in small talk with the customer but don’t stray from the main scope.

- Be polite in your replies.

Customize for your brand

Adjust Instructions to reflect your brand's personality, style, and values.

Use suggested messages and shortcuts
You can combine Instructions with Suggested Messages to guide conversations and trigger shortcuts.

For example:

- if you don't know the answer, say this

"I'm sorry, my information is limited, but my human teammates can help you further. Would you like to speak to a human agent?

[option] Speak to a human"

“[option]” creates Suggested Messages that appear as clickable buttons in chat.

When customers click the button, AI Assist will use the relevant shortcut and perform any action you’ve defined in the shortcut, such as tagging or transferring conversations, sending files or forms, etc.

In this example, let’s say you have a shortcut named “speak-to-a-human” enabled in your AI agent’s Knowledge settings, like this:

AI Assist will use that shortcut when customers click “Speak to a human”, like this:

Note: Instructions alone do not transfer chats. To trigger actions, combine Suggested Messages with shortcuts and appropriate AI Assist settings.

Experiment with different Instructions and review the results in the preview panel before publishing changes.

When testing:

• Try expected customer questions
• Test edge cases and unrelated questions
• Verify tone and consistency
• Confirm shortcuts and actions behave correctly

If your AI agent’s responses need improvement, try these:

• Rephrase the instructions
  Use clearer and more specific language.

• Add examples
  Provide additional examples or scenarios.

• Adjust the tone
  Explicitly describe how the AI should communicate.

• Experiment with different wording
  Small wording changes can significantly affect responses.

• Iterate using feedback
  Review real conversations and refine Instructions over time.

• AI is helpful, but not perfect
  AI may occasionally misunderstand intent or provide incomplete responses.

• Human oversight still matters
  Review conversations regularly and update Instructions when needed.

• Avoid overly complex Instructions
  Long or conflicting instructions can reduce response quality. Aim for short, focused rules.

• Be mindful of bias in your Instructions
  Use fair, inclusive language and avoid anything discriminatory or offensive.

• Protect customer privacy
  Do not include sensitive customer information in Instructions.

• Monitor performance regularly
  Instructions should evolve as your business, workflows, and customer expectations change.

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