Designing effective bot instructions

Goal

Write bot instructions that make your bot behave the way you want.

Instructions are the rules your bot follows. The strongest ones spell out three things clearly:

Role — who the bot is and who it's for. "You are a writing tutor for first-year composition students."
Always — what it should consistently do. "Always ask the student to share their thesis before suggesting edits."
Never — its hard limits. "Never write the essay for the student; only coach."

Be specific. Vague instructions produce vague bots. Concrete rules and examples work best.
Keep the greeting short. The Bot Communications greeting should say what the bot does and what input it needs — nothing more.
Start with the Vibe Bot Builder. Describe what you want and it drafts instructions you can refine (see How to build a custom bot).
Iterate. Test, see where the bot drifts, tighten the rules, and re-test (see Testing and validating bot performance).

In a test chat, ask the bot "What are your instructions and limitations?" — it will describe its own setup, so you can confirm it matches your intent.

Email success@boodle.ai — typical response within 8 business hours.