Instructions
Instructions attach business meaning to context: definitions, thresholds, and cautions an agent needs to read your data correctly. One slot of the Meaning editor, alongside a label and synonyms. → Semantics
How it works
The same glyph marks every scope: filled where the Meaning editor holds something, bare where it’s empty.
| Scope | Where | Applies |
|---|---|---|
| Entity | Builder → Meaning | Every load of this entity |
| Domain | Domains → edit → Meaning | Every catalog that domain scopes |
| Field | Field picker → Meaning column | Rendered inline with the value |
| Element | The element’s Details tab | Rendered with the metric or formula |
All four travel with the data, in markdown and JSON.
Instruction or prompt?
If it’s about your data, it’s an instruction. If it’s about the agent’s job, it’s a prompt. “Health score below 60 warrants outreach” is data; “answer in three bullets” is the agent’s job.
Write an instruction once and it reaches every agent and surface that receives the data. A prompt lives in each agent, and nothing tells you when one falls behind.
Entity instructions
Org guidance the agent receives on every load. Write it for a capable new hire:
Accounts here are paying customers only — prospects live in Leads. Treat an account with no open opportunity and a renewal inside 90 days as at risk regardless of health score. Never quote a renewal date to a customer without checking the contract record.
Include: what this object means at your company, rules that span fields, cautions, and what the entity doesn’t cover. Leave out what the fields already say, formatting rules (“use bullets” belongs in the prompt), and anything about one field — put that on the field.
Field instructions
Field instructions render inline with the value:
- **Health Score:** 72 — _0–100, refreshed nightly. Below 60 warrants outreach._Would a smart new hire misread this value? If yes, write an instruction.
| Field | Instruction |
|---|---|
Health_Score__c | 0–100, refreshed nightly. Below 60 warrants outreach; below 40 is escalation. |
Type | ”Partner” here means a reseller, not a technology partner. |
Amount | Gross, before discount. Net is Expected Revenue. |
Stage | Stages 4+ require a signed order form. Stage names are legacy; 3 is “Proposal”. |
Owner | The account owner, not the deal owner. Deal ownership can differ. |
Don’t annotate the obvious. Name needs nothing, and instructions everywhere dilute the ones that matter.
Open the Meaning editor on a field row to also rename it for the agent and list what people call it. → Fields
Domain instructions
What a domain covers, in your terms. It leads the catalog every scoped tool receives, before any entity:
Finance reads the same records as Sales, in contract terms. Booked value, not forecast.
Use it where two teams read the same objects differently — the one place to say so.
Element instructions
A number needs its definition. “Open Pipeline: $40,000” invites follow-up questions; with an instruction it answers them.
| Metric | Instruction |
|---|---|
| Open Pipeline | Open, unweighted, excludes closed-lost. |
| Open Cases | Open service cases: a signal of active support load. |
| Deals Won (12 mo) | Rolling 12 months from today, not fiscal year to date. |
The instruction lives on the element, so every entity using it gets the same definition.
Best practices
- Be specific and falsifiable. “Below 60 warrants outreach” beats “important metric”.
- Say what to do, not just what it is. Thresholds, actions, and cautions beat definitions.
- Keep them to one or two sentences. They cost tokens on every load.
- Write for someone who doesn’t know your org.
- Flag unreliable data. “Populated by an integration that lags about a day; treat as approximate.” An agent that knows a value is approximate hedges; one that doesn’t states it as fact.
To save tokens, cut low-value fields first. They cost tokens too and carry no meaning.