The Instructions page is the brain and rulebook of your chatbot. It decides who your bot is, how it sounds, what it should accomplish and when it should use each of its tools. If your chatbot ever feels inconsistent, off brand or too generic, the fix almost always starts here.
There are two ways to work on this page. Vibe edit lets you describe a change in plain words and review the exact edit before it applies. The classic editor lets you write and format the instructions yourself. This guide covers both, plus the tools your bot can use. For a full walkthrough of Vibe edit, see Vibe Edit: Change Your Chatbot in Plain Words.
How the Instructions page works #
When you open Instructions, you land on Vibe edit. On the left you chat with NOEM about what you want to change. On the right, the Draft preview shows your chatbot running on your draft, so you can test every change right away.
Use the switch at the top of the panel to move between Vibe edit and Instructions (the classic editor). Next to it, the Tools button opens the tools and integrations your bot can use.
Your first instructions #
You do not have to start from a blank page. When you create a new chatbot, NOEM writes the first set of instructions for you:
- If you have a website: enter your website address and NOEM reads it to write instructions that fit your business.
- If you do not have a website yet: choose I don’t have a website yet. The chatbot opens in Vibe edit and NOEM asks you up to four questions about your business. It writes the first instructions from your answers and publishes them, so the other pages (Knowledge, Design, Deploy and so on) are ready right away.
The generated instructions are a short document with clear sections: the bot’s role, its goal, its tone, what it knows, and guiding rules split into Do and Don’t. Multi-step flows are created as separate skills instead of long paragraphs, and online stores get a catalog knowledge file instead of a product price list inside the instructions. Learn more about skills in How to Use Agent Skills and about the first publish in Draft Mode and Live Mode.
The old template picker and sample instructions are no longer part of this flow. If an older guide tells you to pick a template, you can skip that step.
Changing instructions with Vibe edit #
Vibe edit is the fastest way to improve your bot. Type what you want in plain words, for example “keep answers to two or three sentences” or “ask for an email before quoting a price”. NOEM proposes the exact edits as pending changes, and you choose which ones to apply. After you apply them, NOEM checks the result on your draft using your latest test chat.
While it works, Vibe edit can read web pages and search the web, and it checks your knowledge files, so its suggestions match what your business actually offers. The NOEM mascot reacts while it thinks, works and answers. Vibe edit uses tokens from your plan.
Vibe edit can also change skill steps, tool hints, custom action descriptions, the welcome message and sample prompts. Everything is covered step by step in Vibe Edit: Change Your Chatbot in Plain Words.
Using the classic editor #
Click Instructions in the switch at the top of Vibe edit to open the classic editor. This is where you can read and write the full instructions yourself.
The toolbar #
- Normal menu: turn a line into a heading. Headings show up in the Outline panel and make long instructions easier to scan.
- Bold, numbered list, bulleted list and clear formatting.
- More (the three dots): extra tools, explained below.
- Vibe edit: go back to the chat view.
- Tools: open Tools and Integrations.
- The panel button on the right shows or hides the Outline.
The More menu #
- Insert a function call: add a reference to one of your tools where your cursor is, so the instructions say exactly when to use it.
- Tidy structure with AI: reorganize your instructions under clear headings without changing what they say.
- Channel and mode reference: open the Channel and Delivery guide, explained below.
- Back up now and Restore a backup: save the current version or bring back an earlier one.
Channel and Delivery reference #
Your bot knows which channel it is answering on and how its reply will be delivered. The Channel and Delivery reference lists every value: web chat, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Slack, text message (SMS), phone call and email for the channel, and voice, plain text or rich for the delivery. Open a value to see what it means and click Copy rule to paste a ready-made rule into your instructions, for example a rule that keeps SMS replies under 300 characters.
For examples of rules that adapt by platform, see Channel & Delivery: How to Write Instructions That Adapt by Platform.
Outline and Skills #
The Outline panel on the right lists the headings in your instructions, so you can jump to any section. Below it, the Skills list shows your skills, with active ones first and then in alphabetical order. Click + to add a skill. The bottom of the panel shows how many sections and characters your instructions have.
Get a second opinion and Recommendations #
The banner Get a second opinion sits above the editor. Click Review and NOEM looks for contradictions and gaps in your instructions. Each suggestion arrives as its own item in a side panel, and on the Instructions page you can apply a suggestion straight into the text. If you open the same suggestions from the test chat or your conversations, they are read only.
Recommendations come from your weekly performance report. Each one is numbered, shows which section it affects and a before and after view of the words that change, with Review, Skip or Undo. After applying, Save and close saves the changes to your draft. A reminder appears only when the report has new findings or you have never reviewed it. See Chatbot Performance Report and AI Analysis.
Saving #
Click Save in the bottom right corner to save your instructions to the draft. Draft changes reach your live chatbot when you publish. See Draft Mode and Live Mode.
Writing instructions that work #
Whether you write by hand or with Vibe edit, clear structure gives the most reliable results. Use these sections as a guide:
- Role: the bot’s name, what it does and who it helps.
- Goal: three to five outcomes the bot should aim for, and what a successful conversation looks like.
- Tone: writing style, answer length, formatting rules and language rules (for example, reply in the visitor’s language).
- What it knows: tell it to prefer your knowledge files over guessing, and to ask a clarifying question when information is missing.
- Do and Don’t rules: topics it should not handle, never asking for passwords or sensitive data, and what to do when a request is not supported.
- Escalation: when to hand off to a human or open a ticket, and what details to collect first (name, email, phone, order ID).
Example #
- Role: You are AIREA, an AI readiness assistant for business leaders.
- Goal: Assess AI readiness and deliver a short summary with recommendations.
- Tone: Ask one question at a time, summarize often and use bullet points.
- If unsure: Ask a clarifying question. Do not invent details.
- Escalation: If the user wants help implementing, offer to book a call with an expert.
Common mistake: vague instructions #
“Be helpful” is not enough. Add rules that say how and when:
- If the user asks for pricing, give a short answer and a next step.
- If the user asks for a demo, capture their name and email and suggest booking.
Tools and Integrations: what your bot can do #
Click Tools to open Tools and Integrations. Each tool has a Set up button. Turning a tool on gives your bot permission to use it, and the list at the top shows which tools are on. Some tools depend on your plan, and tools marked Beta are still being improved.
Sell more #
- Booking calendars (Beta): find open times and book appointments in the chat.
- Shopify: answer product, stock and order questions. See Integrate Your AI Chatbot with Shopify.
- Eventbrite: show your live events in the chat.
- WooCommerce (Beta): answer product, stock and review questions.
Support customers #
- Email handoff: send a conversation to a human inbox, for sales leads, support requests or internal alerts. See AI Chatbot Functions: Email.
- Twilio: text customers or call your team, for confirmations, follow-ups and urgent escalations. See Integrate NOEM.ai with Twilio.
- Zendesk: open a ticket when a human is needed, with the conversation attached.
- CRM (Beta): capture leads, deals and tasks.
Advanced #
- Conversation settings: strict mode, contact capture, web lookups and maps. The map options can show one place with a pin and directions, or directions between two addresses. Both are off by default. On text channels like SMS and WhatsApp, the bot sends the address and a Google Maps link instead of a card.
- Skills: extra instructions that load only when needed, ideal for multi-step flows. See How to Use Agent Skills.
- APIs and webhooks: call your own systems, Zapier or Make.com. See AI Chatbot Actions: APIs & Webhooks.
- Task lists: walk a customer through fixed steps, one at a time, such as onboarding or troubleshooting.
- Page access: read the page the visitor is on and trigger actions on it, like opening a form. See How to Trigger Browser Events from Your AI Chatbot.
Make tools work: tie them into your instructions #
Turning on a tool is permission. Your instructions still need to say when to use it. Add rules like these:
- If the user asks to speak with a human, open a Zendesk ticket and summarize the issue.
- If the user asks for a follow-up, ask for their phone number and send an SMS with Twilio.
- If the user asks for a copy of this plan, email the summary.
This is the difference between tools that are on and tools that are used well. Vibe edit can write these rules for you: tell it when the bot should use a tool and review the change.
Save, test and improve #
- Change your instructions with Vibe edit or the classic editor.
- Turn on only the tools you need.
- Save, or apply the changes in Vibe edit.
- Test in the Draft preview or the Test tab with five kinds of questions: a normal FAQ, an unclear question, an off-topic question, a request for a human, and a request that should trigger a tool.
- Fix what you find, then publish your draft.
Before you go live, run through the Launch Checklist.
Backups #
NOEM saves restore points automatically, before Vibe edit changes and once a day when you save. You can also save up to five named backups. Use Back up now and Restore a backup in the More menu, or the Backups link in Vibe edit. Restoring saves your current version first, so you can always undo. Details in Vibe Edit.
Troubleshooting #
- A tool is locked: it likely needs a different plan or permissions.
- The bot does not use a tool: add a clear rule that says when to use it, or ask Vibe edit to add one.
- Answers are inconsistent: reduce the number of goals, add formatting rules, or click Review to find contradictions.
- My changes do not show on my website: saved changes go to the draft. Publish to update the live chatbot.
- Random “undefined” text in the instructions: delete it and save again.
- Need help designing your bot? Book a call with our team. Bring your current instructions, a few example conversations and the result you want to improve.
