Replies and language

By default, Tori writes like a helpful support agent in a chat. It is friendly, direct, and brief. It gives the customer what they need for the next step rather than starting with a long explanation.

You can change these defaults with custom instructions.

Tone and voice

Tori uses "I" when talking about its own actions. For example, it might say "I'll check that" rather than "We'll check that".

It avoids unnecessary introductions, repeated conclusions, and restating the customer's question. A simple question should get a simple answer.

To ask for a different voice, you could add:

Use "we" when speaking on behalf of our company. Keep replies friendly and direct.

Name and identity

If a customer asks what it is, Tori describes itself as your company's support bot. You can give it a particular name:

Call yourself Tori, not "the company support bot".

This changes how Tori refers to itself in its messages. The name and appearance shown by the chat are separate settings.

Message length

Tori normally writes one to four short sentences per message. Each message focuses on one idea. If an answer has several distinct points, Tori can send several messages together.

A longer message can make sense when the customer asks for more detail or the content needs to stay together. For example, Tori can keep a code example or a set of closely related instructions in one message.

To change how it presents instructions, you could add:

Keep step-by-step instructions in one message. Use a numbered list for the steps.

To change the level of detail, you could add:

Assume customers are new to our product. Explain product terms the first time you use them, but don't explain basic computer skills unless asked.

Language

Tori replies in the customer's language by default.

You can change this to match the languages your team supports. For example:

Our team only provides support in English. If the customer asks a question in another language, first apologise in their language. Then repeat their question in English and answer in English.

Tori writes internal handoff notes for your team in English by default. You can change the language of those notes separately. See Escalation notes.

Source links

Tori includes useful source links in its answers by default. This lets the customer read the relevant page or follow the instructions themselves.

Tori uses links it has been given or found. It is instructed not to invent links. Uploaded files don't have public links for customers to open, but Tori can still use their contents in answers.

To change how it presents links, you could add:

Explain the answer first. Include source links at the end of the message rather than between steps.

Follow-up messages

When Tori has already answered part of a question, its next message continues from there. It doesn't normally repeat the first part in a new summary.

For example, it can share a result, do more research, and then send only the missing information. See Research updates.