Writing instructions agents actually follow
Five patterns that make agent instructions clearer, more reliable, and easier to maintain.
Maya Patel1 min read
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Good instructions read like a brief to a smart colleague who is new to your company. These five patterns make the biggest difference.
Say what good looks like
Instead of “write a good summary”, describe the result: “three bullet points, each under twenty words, with the most urgent item first.”
Give the agent a way out
Tell the agent what to do when it isn’t sure. “If the order can’t be found, say so and hand the ticket to a person” prevents confident guesses.
Show one example
A single worked example is worth a page of rules. Include one real input and the output you’d want.
Example ticket: "Where's my order #48213? It was due Tuesday."
Good reply:
Hi Sam, your order #48213 left our warehouse on Monday and is with DHL
(tracking 1Z84…). The latest update says Thursday by 6pm. I'll keep an
eye on it and message you if anything changes.Do and don’t
| Do | Don’t |
|---|---|
| Describe the goal and the audience | List every possible mistake |
| Link to the source of truth | Paste long policies into the prompt |
| Say when to hand off to a person | Expect the agent to guess |
Keep rules in one place
If two agents share a rule, such as your refund policy, keep it in a knowledge source both can read instead of copying it into each set of instructions.
Written by
Maya PatelHead of Product
Maya leads product at Agento. Before that she built workflow tools for support teams at two SaaS companies.
