Day 15 of 28 · OpenClaw Challenge
Custom Instructions & Personas
⏱ 7 min
📊 Intermediate
Welcome to Week 3. Your agent is connected, remembering, and working. But it still sounds like... a generic AI.
Today you'll learn to shape how your agent communicates and behaves — making it truly yours.
Custom instructions — the rules
Custom instructions are persistent rules your agent follows in every interaction. Think of them as standing orders:
"Always reply in bullet points, not paragraphs."
"Never schedule meetings before 10am or after 4pm."
"Use a professional tone in work emails but casual in personal ones."
"When I ask for a summary, keep it under 5 bullet points."
These rules apply to everything the agent does — you set them once and forget about them.
Knowledge Check
What's the difference between custom instructions and a one-time request?
A
Custom instructions require coding
B
Custom instructions are more expensive
D
Custom instructions persist across all conversations — one-time requests only apply right now
A one-time request ("make this reply formal") applies only to that moment. A custom instruction ("always use a formal tone in client emails") applies forever, in every conversation, until you change it.
Personas — different modes for different contexts
What if you want your agent to behave differently depending on the situation? That's what personas are for.
A persona is a pre-built set of instructions the agent can switch between:
Switch to my Work persona.
Switched to **Work Mode** ✓
Active rules:
— Professional tone
— CC manager on client emails
— Focus on efficiency and action items
— Use company templates for documents
Switched to **Personal Mode** ✓
Active rules:
— Casual, friendly tone
— No work calendar access
— Shopping and personal task focused
— Use first names only
↻ Replay conversation
Knowledge Check
When would you use different personas?
A
When you want different behaviors for different contexts — like work vs personal, or client-facing vs internal
B
Only if you have multiple agents
C
Only developers need personas
D
Personas are just for fun — they don't affect behavior
Personas let you create context-specific behavior sets. Your "Work" persona might be formal and action-oriented, while your "Personal" persona is casual and flexible. Same agent, different modes.
Let's see the difference personas make with the same request:
Draft a message to Tom about the project delay.
Draft ready:
---
Hi Tom,
I wanted to flag a timeline adjustment for Phase 2. Due to the scope changes we discussed last week, we're looking at an April start rather than March.
I've attached an updated project plan with the revised milestones. Happy to walk through it in our Thursday call.
Best regards,
Alex
---
CC'd your manager as per your instructions. Ready to send?
↻ Replay conversation
Draft a message to Tom about being late to dinner.
Here you go:
---
Hey Tom! Running about 15 min late tonight, traffic is brutal. Go ahead and order drinks — I'll have whatever IPA they've got on tap. See you soon! 🍺
---
Send it?
↻ Replay conversation
Knowledge Check
In the two examples, what changed between the Work and Personal drafts?
A
The AI model powering the agent
B
The tone, style, and behavior rules — set by the active persona
C
The tools that were available
D
The user's account settings
Same agent, same AI, same tools. The persona changed the communication style from professional and structured to casual and friendly. The agent adapted its tone, formatting, and level of formality.
Building your own instructions
Start simple. Here are the five custom instructions most people set up first:
1. Tone — "Professional for work, casual for personal"
2. Format — "Use bullet points for summaries, full sentences for emails"
3. Schedule — "No meetings before 10am, Fridays are meeting-free"
4. Communication — "Always CC my manager on client emails"
5. Preferences — "I prefer concise answers over detailed explanations"
You can add, change, or remove instructions at any time. Just tell the agent.
Final Check
You set a custom instruction: "Never schedule meetings on Fridays." What happens if someone emails you requesting a Friday meeting?
A
The agent schedules it anyway
B
The agent ignores the email
C
The agent deletes the email
D
The agent suggests alternative days that respect your no-Friday rule
The agent respects your instructions but handles the situation intelligently. It won't silently ignore the request or schedule against your rules — it'll propose alternatives that work within your constraints.
🎭
Day 15 Complete
"Same agent, your rules. Custom instructions and personas make it work the way YOU work."
Tomorrow — Day 16
Connecting to Slack or Teams
Your agent is personalized. Now let's bring it into your team's communication channels.