Agent Instructions: Tips & Tricks for the perfect configuration

You already know how to create an agent - if not, check our article first. But the real magic happens in the instructions. This is where you define how your agent thinks, speaks and acts. In this article you’ll learn the best trick’s to get the most out of your agent’s instructions.

The Role - Give your Agent an identity

A clear role is the foundation of every great agent. Think of it as giving your agent a job title and a personality.

What makes a good role?

Be specific: Instead of “You are an assistant”, try “You are an experienced HR specialist who helps employees create job postings.”
Define the tone: Should your agent be formal, casual technical or friendly? Write it right into the role.
Set the context: Who does the agent work for? What’s its area of expertise?

Example:

“You are a professional communications advisor. You help employees write emails that are clear, friendly and professional. You adjust the tone depending on whether the email is being send internally or externally.”

💡Tip: The more precisely you describe the role, the more consistently your agent will behave - even with very different questions.

The Instruction - The Heart of your agent

The instructions tells your agent what to do an how to do it. The clearer and more structured you write it, the better the results. Think of it as a briefing you’d give a new colleague on their first day.

A good instruction covers these building blocks:

Building block	What it does	Example
Role	Who is the agent?	“You are a technical writer.”
Task	What should it do?	“You create service reports based on bullet points.”
Rules	What guidelines must it follow?	“Always respond in English. Use technical terms only when necessary”
Format	What should the output look like?	“Structure your response with headings and bullet points.”
Constraints	What should it NOT do?	“Do not make up information. Ask if details are missing.”

Example of a complete instruction:

“You are an AI assistant for project management. Your task is to create project status updates. Ask the user for the procet name, current status, open tasks and risks. Create a structured update with the following sections: Summary, Progress, Open Items, Next Steps. Always respond in English and in a professional tone.”

💡Tip: Do you have a lot to write? No problem - just drag the text box for the instructions from the bottom-right corner to make it bigger, or use the handy dictation feature by tapping the microphone icon.

✅ Dos – What You Should Do

Here are the golden rules for creating great agent instructions:

1. Use clear, simple language
Your agent interprets instructions literally. Ambiguities lead to unpredictable results. Say exactly what you mean.

2. One task per agent
An agent that's supposed to do everything can't do anything well. Focus on one use case – you can always create more agents!

3. Specify the output format
Tell your agent whether you expect bullet points, tables, continuous text, or numbered lists. This saves you from reformatting later.

4. Include examples
Show your agent what a good output looks like. Adding an example to your instruction dramatically improves quality.

5. Allow follow-up questions
Add something like "If you're missing information, actively ask the user for it." This prevents incomplete or made-up answers.

6. Add example prompts
Use the example prompt feature so that users immediately know how to interact with your agent. These show up when the agent is opened and are clickable – instant start!

7. Use knowledge sources strategically
Connect only relevant data sources. Too many unspecific sources can actually dilute the quality of your agent's answers.

8. Test and iterate
Create a first version, test it with real questions, and refine step by step. Your agent gets better with every tweak.

❌ Don'ts – What You Should Avoid

These are the most common pitfalls – and how to dodge them:

1. Vague or overly short instructions
"Help me with texts" – your agent has no idea what kind of texts, what style, or what format. Be specific!

2. Contradictory rules
"Be short and concise" and "Explain everything in detail" at the same time? That's a recipe for confusion.

3. Too many tasks in one agent
An agent that writes emails, creates reports, AND translates documents won't do any of them well. Split it up.

4. No constraints
Without clear boundaries, your agent might fabricate information or go completely off-topic. Always set guardrails.

5. Never testing
If you don't test your agent with real questions, you'll never know if it actually does what you expect.

6. Adding knowledge sources randomly
Not every data source is relevant. Too many irrelevant sources can confuse your agent and degrade answer quality.

7. Letting the agent "know everything"
Clearly define what your agent should provide information about – and what it shouldn't. A focused agent is a better agent.

From Bad to Good – A Practical Example

Sometimes it helps to see the difference. Here's how an instruction evolves:

❌ Bad:

"You are an assistant. Help me."

No role, no task, no format, no rules – your agent is completely lost.

⚠️ Better:

"You are an assistant for marketing copy. Write social media posts."

Getting there, but still too vague. Which channel? What tone? What audience?

✅ Good:

"You are a social media expert for B2B companies. Your task is to create LinkedIn posts. Ask the user for the topic, target audience, and desired tone (e.g., informative, inspiring, humorous). Create a post with a maximum of 1,300 characters, including 3–5 relevant hashtags. Use professional yet approachable language."

See the difference? The more detail you provide, the better your agent performs.

💡 Pro Tips

Check out the Agent Library for ready-made examples with system prompts you can copy and customize – perfect for getting started quickly. ✨
Start simple, get specific: Begin with a basic instruction, test it, and expand gradually based on the results.
Choose knowledge sources wisely: Internal knowledge, uploaded files, or web search – pick what fits your use case best. Note:Web search and internal knowledge can't be used at the same time right now.
Think from the user's perspective: What questions will people ask your agent? Design the instruction around those scenarios.
Use formatting in your instructions: Bullet points, numbered lists, and clear sections within your instruction help the agent understand the structure you expect.

The “Enhance Instructions” Feature

Don’t want to start from scratch? No problem - amber has you covered. When writing your agent instructions, simply click the “Enhance Instructions” button, and your text gets optimized in an instant. A little AI magic in the background automatically creates a structured framework for your instruction - based on the building blocks described in this article.

How it works:

Write a rough draft of your instruction – even just a few bullet points or keywords are enough
Click "Enhance Instructions"
amber automatically generates a polished, well-structured instruction for you

The best part: You always stay in full control. You can:

Accept the improved instruction as-is
Edit and refine it further – add details, adjust the tone, or expand specific building blocks
Discard it and keep your original version

💡 Tip: Think of "Enhance Instructions" as your starting point, not the finish line. The generated framework gives you a solid foundation, but the real magic happens when you fine-tune it with your specific knowledge about your use case, target audience, and requirements.

This feature is especially useful if:

You're creating your first agent and aren't sure how to structure the instruction
You have a rough idea but need help turning it into a clear, complete prompt
You want a quick quality check on an existing instruction