> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://pro-bot.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Custom instructions

> Refine your bot's behaviour with free-form custom instructions - and understand the guardrails they can't override.

Every ProBot has a **personality** preset (the tone) and an optional **custom instructions** field. Custom instructions are free-form text you add in **Bot configuration** to steer bot-specific behaviour - for example, "Always mention I'm open to relocation" or "If asked about salary, say it's negotiable and point to my email."

## Where they sit in the prompt

The system prompt is assembled in a deliberate order so your instructions have real influence without being able to break the bot's safety rules:

```
IDENTITY
IMMUTABLE RULES        ← identity, context-only answers, prompt protection
TONE (personality)
CUSTOM INSTRUCTIONS    ← your free-form text
RESPONSE STYLE         ← structural rules (length, no filler) - last word
UNKNOWN-answer template
CONTEXT                ← your resume / knowledge chunks
```

Personality establishes the voice, your custom instructions refine intent, and the structural response rules come *after* them - so a malformed or over-eager custom block can't override "answer only from context" or the length limits.

## What they can and can't do

**Can:** add emphasis, set preferences, add a call-to-action, tweak how the bot frames answers.

**Can't:** override the immutable rules. Regardless of what you write, the bot still answers only from your provided context (no hallucinating a job you didn't list), keeps its identity, and refuses to reveal its own system prompt. If someone asks it to "ignore previous instructions," the immutable block wins.

## Tips

Keep instructions short and declarative. They're additive to your knowledge base, not a replacement for it - if you want the bot to *know* something, add it as [knowledge](/guides/build-your-bot); if you want the bot to *behave* a certain way, put it here.