Agent guidelines define how your AI phone agent behaves, speaks, and reacts during conversations. They act as a persistent system prompt, context that stays active throughout the conversation, regardless of which flow block or sub-flow the agent is in.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.phonely.ai/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Opening the Guidelines Editor
The editor opens as a full-screen modal with a sidebar on the left listing your configured sections and a rich text editor on the right for the selected section.
Guideline Sections
Guidelines are organized into predefined section types. You don’t need to use every section - add only the ones that make sense for your agent. Click the Add button at the bottom of the sidebar to add a new section.| Section | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Rebuttals | Responses the agent should give when callers raise common objections. The AI will address the objection before continuing with the conversation flow. | ”I need to think about it” → respond with… |
| Out of Scope Questions | How the agent should respond when it doesn’t have enough information to answer a question. | ”Let the caller know that a licensed agent will be able to help answer all their questions.” |
| General Info | Business information like hours, location, services, and policies that the agent can reference at any time. | ”Business hours: Mon–Fri 9am–5pm…” |
| Never Do | Behaviors, actions, or responses the agent should avoid. | ”Never say you can call the person back.” |
| Response Style | Tone, personality traits, and communication style. | ”Be concise and direct. Match the customer’s emotional tone.” |
| Objective | The primary goals the agent should work towards during conversations. | ”Qualify the caller and transfer them to a licensed agent.” |
| Misc | Anything that doesn’t fit in the other categories. | Additional instructions or edge-case handling. |
Managing Sections
- Add a section: Click the + button at the bottom of the sidebar and select a section type.
- Delete a section: Hover over a section in the sidebar and click the trash icon. This permanently deletes the section and its content.
- Switch between sections: Click any section in the sidebar to view and edit it.
- Reorder: Sections are inserted after the currently selected section. Select a section first, then add a new one to place it below.
Editing Content
Each section opens a rich text editor where you can write and format your guidelines using headings, lists, bold, and other standard formatting. Changes auto-save shortly after you stop typing - you’ll see an “Unsaved changes” indicator at the bottom of the editor while a save is in progress. The footer also shows who last updated the section and when.Per-Flow Control
By default, guidelines are included in every flow. However, each flow has an Include Guidelines toggle in its flow settings that you can turn off if a specific flow should not use the agent-level guidelines. This is useful when a flow has specialized instructions that conflict with the general guidelines, or when you want to keep a flow’s prompt lean.
Guidelines vs Knowledge Base
| Feature | Purpose | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Agent Guidelines | Always-on context that defines tone, behavior, and personality. Injected directly into the system prompt. | Agent’s character, rebuttals, restrictions, objectives, and general business info. |
| Knowledge Base | Stored documents and pages that the agent searches when asked factual questions. | FAQs, pricing details, technical docs, or detailed product info. |