Best Practices for writing clear instructions for your agentforcve agent

Instructions are the rules that guide how your agent behaves inside a topic. They tell the agent what steps to take, what actions to choose, and how to speak to customers. Clear instructions make the agent more dependable and help avoid confusion.

Why Instructions Are Important

Good instructions help your agent in several ways:

• Choosing the right action: They point the agent toward the correct tool for the situation.

• Setting the tone: They guide how the agent talks and responds.

• Adding business context: They explain company rules, steps, and words your team uses.

If instructions are vague, the agent may pick the wrong action or misunderstand what a customer really wants. Since instructions are turned into a prompt, they are not fully predictable—so they cannot replace coded rules. They simply guide the agent’s thinking.

How the Reasoning Engine Uses Instructions

When a customer asks something, the reasoning engine uses your instructions to:

• Pick the right step: For example, whether to look up an account or check a policy first.

• Decide the order of actions: Instructions can say what must be done before something else.

• Shape the reply: They help the agent format answers clearly.

• Handle unusual cases: For example, when something doesn’t match a normal process, instructions can tell the agent to hand off to a human.

The clearer the instructions, the more reliable the agent becomes.

Good vs. Bad Instruction Examples

Bad: “Get customer details.”
Good: “If a customer asks about a warranty claim, request their full name, purchase date, or product serial number.”
Why better: It shows exactly what details are needed.

Bad: “Help fix computer problems.”
Good: “Before using the Troubleshoot Device action, confirm whether the customer is using a laptop or desktop. Include the device type when running the action.”
Why better: It sets an order and names the action to use.

Bad: “Use knowledge for product info.”
Good: “When asked about product features, identify the model number first. Then call the Knowledge Lookup action with that exact model.”
Why better: Clear steps and clear action names.

Bad: “Check if they need more help.”
Good: “After giving subscription details, ask the customer if they need help updating their plan.”
Why better: States when to follow up and what to offer.

Best Practices for Strong Instructions

• Define important terms.
  Example: “A service code is used for repairs, while a booking code is used for appointments.”

• Explain steps in the right order.
  Example: “First confirm the customer’s identity, then share their membership details.”

• Use the same wording everywhere.
  Don’t switch between “client,” “user,” and “customer” unless they mean different things.

• Be careful with words like “always” or “never.”
  Agents follow them strictly, so only use them when you mean it.

• Match actions to situations.
  Example: “Use the Track Package action when customers ask where their shipment is.”

• Tell the agent how to choose between options.
  Example: “If the customer has a phone number available, use SMS Verification; otherwise, use Email Verification.”