Global instructions

Global instructions is one block of company-wide guidance, such as standards, tone and rules, that every Coworker follows. Use it for what should be true of all your Coworkers, so each Supervisor does not have to repeat it. You need the admin ability; other people see no access.

Open the page#

Select Settings, then Company > Global instructions.

The page has three cards: Company instructions, Version history and Preview.

How Coworkers use it#

Every Coworker follows the company instructions whenever it works: in chat, in the answers it gives through the API, in runs started by triggers and in workflows. They apply to every Coworker at once, including ones hired later.

A Coworker's own Instructions, set by its Supervisor on the Coworker's details page, refine the company instructions. When the two conflict, the Coworker's own instructions win.

Write and save the instructions#

1. In Instructions on the Company instructions card, type or edit the text.
2. Select Save.

The counter under the field reads, for example, "1,200 of 8,000 characters, about 300 tokens". The limit is 8,000 characters. The token figure is an estimate of one token for every four characters. Company instructions are added to what every Coworker reads at the start of every conversation, so a longer block costs more on every turn.

Over the limit, the field reports how many characters to remove and Save stays unavailable. Save is also unavailable while there are no unsaved changes. While you have unsaved changes the card shows Unsaved changes, and Discard changes returns the field to the saved text. Saving text identical to the current version changes nothing and adds no version.

Under the field, the card shows who saved the current version and when. Before the first save it reads "No company instructions are saved. Coworkers follow only their own instructions." Saving an empty field removes the instructions; Coworkers then work without them.

Version history#

Every save is kept as a numbered version. Version history lists them newest first:

Column	Shows
Version	The version number, Current on the one in use, and "Restored from version N" when it came from a restore
Changed by	The person who saved it
When	The date and time
Size	The number of characters and an estimated token count
Actions	View and Restore

Select View to read the full text of a version in a dialog titled Version N, then Close.

To go back to an earlier version:

1. Select Restore on that row. It is unavailable on the current version.
2. In the Restore version N? dialog, select Restore.

The restored text is saved as a new version and becomes the company instructions. The version you replaced stays in the history, so nothing is lost. Until a first save, the card says "No versions saved."

Preview what a Coworker starts from#

The Preview card shows what one Coworker starts each conversation from. Pick a Coworker in Coworker. The preview lists these parts in order, each with its own label, followed by the total size in characters and estimated tokens:

1. Identity: its name, role and job description.
2. Company instructions: your text, marked Set here.
3. Workflows: the workflows attached to it.
4. Coworker's own instructions: what its Supervisor wrote.

A part with no text reads "Nothing set." The preview updates after you save or restore.

Details added while a conversation is under way, such as memory and Knowledge Base content, are not part of the preview.

Audit trail#

Saving and restoring are recorded in the audit log under the Area named Global instructions, as "Updated the global instructions" and "Restored an earlier version of the global instructions". An event records the version numbers, the character count and the estimated tokens, never the instruction text. See The Audit log.