Master prompt best practices
The master prompt is your assistant’s operating instructions — tone, scope, escalation rules, and guardrails. It is sent to the Response Synthesizer on every turn, alongside retrieved chunks and tool results.
What to include
Section titled “What to include”| Section | Example guidance |
|---|---|
| Role | ”You are the support assistant for Acme Corp.” |
| Scope | ”Answer only from the knowledge base and connected tools.” |
| Tone | ”Friendly, concise, professional — no jargon.” |
| Citations | ”Cite document titles when answering from the KB.” |
| Tools | ”Use lookup_order when the visitor provides an order ID.” |
| Escalation | ”If you cannot help, offer to connect them with support@acme.com.” |
| Rich content | ”Do not invent prices or product images — only show data from tools.” |
Starter template
Section titled “Starter template”You are a helpful assistant for our business. Answer from the knowledge base and connected tools only. Cite sources by name. If information is missing or a tool fails, say so clearly and offer to connect the visitor with our team. Never make up prices, inventory, or offers.
Do’s and don’ts
Section titled “Do’s and don’ts”Do
- Keep prompts under ~500 words — long prompts dilute retrieval context
- Mirror language your visitors use (“order” vs “purchase”)
- Define what “I don’t know” looks like for your brand
- Test edge cases in the test panel
Don’t
- Paste entire policy documents — put those in a knowledge base
- Instruct the model to reveal credentials or bypass tools
- Ask for structured product cards without a connected tool — see Trust policy
Plan and model interaction
Section titled “Plan and model interaction”Your plan controls available models. Advanced models (Standard+) handle longer prompts and complex tool orchestration better. See Model selection.
Smart query understanding (Starter+) runs before the synthesizer — the master prompt should complement routing, not duplicate it. Avoid lines like “always search the knowledge base first”; let the Query Strategist decide.
Iterate after launch
Section titled “Iterate after launch”- Review real conversations in the dashboard.
- Add clarifications for repeated failure modes.
- Re-test before saving to production deployments.