{"id":32,"date":"2026-09-09T04:25:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/32\/custom-instructions\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T12:23:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T06:23:34","slug":"custom-instructions","status":"publish","type":"nirohelp_doc","link":"https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/ai-assistance\/custom-instructions\/","title":{"rendered":"Custom AI instructions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>NiroHelp \u2192 AI \u2192 Instructions<\/strong> is a single box. What you write there is applied to every answer the AI produces for your site &#8211; chatbot replies and auto-responder replies alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full has-custom-border\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1049\" height=\"418\" src=\"https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/add-instructions.webp\" alt=\"add instructions\" class=\"has-border-color has-ast-global-color-0-border-color wp-image-176\" style=\"border-width:2px;border-top-left-radius:5px;border-top-right-radius:5px;border-bottom-left-radius:5px;border-bottom-right-radius:5px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/add-instructions.webp 1049w, https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/add-instructions-300x120.webp 300w, https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/add-instructions-1024x408.webp 1024w, https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/add-instructions-768x306.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1049px) 100vw, 1049px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Use it for the rules the AI cannot work out from your docs: tone, what to refuse, and where to send someone your docs cannot help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The grey text is an example, not a value<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The box shows this in grey:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only answer using our own documentation. Never mention or recommend<br>\ncompetitor products. If the answer is not in the docs, say you are not sure<br>\nand point the user to support.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>That is placeholder text.<\/strong> An empty box stays empty and the service applies its own defaults. Nothing is saved until you type something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Writing good instructions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Keep them short, concrete, and about <em>behaviour<\/em> rather than <em>content<\/em> &#8211; your docs are the content, and syncing is how you change that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Worth stating:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Scope.<\/strong> <em>&#8220;Answer only from our documentation.&#8221;<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>What to do when the docs do not cover it.<\/strong> Naming a fallback &#8211; a support email, your ticket form &#8211; is far more useful than &#8220;say you do not know&#8221;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tone and length.<\/strong> <em>&#8220;Two sentences, then the steps.&#8221;<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hard refusals.<\/strong> Pricing negotiation, legal advice, competitor comparisons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not worth stating: facts. <em>&#8220;Our refund window is 14 days&#8221;<\/em> belongs in a doc, where it can be cited, found by search, and edited by whoever owns the policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What happens when you save<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your text is <strong>stored on your own site first<\/strong>, then pushed to the AI service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the push fails you will see either <em>&#8220;Saved locally, but could not reach the AI service&#8221;<\/em> or <em>&#8220;Saved locally, but the AI service rejected the update&#8221;<\/em>. Both mean what they say: <strong>your text is safe<\/strong>, and the service is still running the previous version. Save again once it is reachable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Requires a connected site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is nowhere to push the instructions to until the site is connected, which is why <strong>Instructions<\/strong> does not appear until then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Instructions versus the confidence threshold<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two fix different failures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Instructions<\/strong> change <em>how<\/em> the AI answers when it has something to say.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The auto responder&#8217;s <strong>confidence threshold<\/strong> decides <em>whether<\/em> it answers at all.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>An assistant that is confidently wrong needs a higher threshold, not a longer prompt.<\/strong> See <a href=\"https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/workflows-automation\/ai-auto-responder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The AI auto responder<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For every way a ticket reaches a human, see <a href=\"https:\/\/nirohelp.com\/docs\/workflows-automation\/ai-auto-responder\/#what-triggers-a-handoff\">What triggers a handoff<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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