Instructions & handoff
Three settings under AI behavior turn a generic model into your assistant: instructions, handoff rules and session timeout.
Custom instructions#
Instructions are your bot's system prompt — the standing brief it follows in every reply. Use them to set tone, scope and rules. You have up to 4000 characters.
You are the support assistant for Acme Store.
Be friendly and concise. Answer only from the
knowledge base. Reply in the customer's language.
If you don't know, say so and offer a human.- Describe the role and tone in one or two sentences.
- State what's in and out of scope.
- Tell it to rely on the knowledge base and not invent facts.
Keep it tight
Shorter, specific instructions beat long ones. Put facts in the knowledge base; keep instructions for behavior.Handoff rules#
Handoff rules describe when the bot should stop and pass the chat to a live operator. The AI watches the conversation and escalates when a rule matches. You have up to 1000 characters.
Hand off to a human when:
- the customer asks for a refund or chargeback
- they are angry or ask for a manager
- the question is about a legal or billing disputeWhen a handoff triggers, the conversation appears in the Inbox for your team to take over.
Session timeout#
A session is one continuous stretch of a conversation. The timeout sets how long it stays open with no new messages before it closes; the next message starts a fresh session. The range is 5–1440 minutes (default 15).
- Shorter timeouts close idle chats quickly — cleaner sessions, but a returning customer starts over.
- Longer timeouts keep context across pauses — better continuity for slow back-and-forth.