Directives

Directives are rules that your agents follow in every conversation. They are separate from the agent’s persona — while a persona defines who the agent is, directives define what it must and must not do. Sprigr Teams supports two levels of directives: company directives that apply to every agent, and agent directives that apply to a single agent.

How a directive is structured

Every directive — company or agent level — has three parts:

• Text — The rule itself, written as a clear instruction.
• Category — Where the rule belongs: Core Values (principles the agent embodies), Can Do (things the agent is allowed or encouraged to do), or Cannot Do (hard limits).
• Priority — How strictly the agent treats it:

Priority	How the agent treats it
High	Critical rule — must always be followed, no exceptions
Medium	Standard guideline — followed consistently
Low	Preference — followed when practical

Individual directives can also be toggled on and off without deleting them, which is handy for rules that only apply some of the time.

Company directives

Company directives are organisation-wide rules that every agent in your workspace follows, regardless of its role or purpose. They are the guardrails for your entire operation. You set them once in Settings, and they automatically apply to all current and future agents.

Use company directives for rules that should never be broken by any agent:

• “Never share customer personal information in external communications.”
• “Always respond in Australian English.”
• “Never make promises about delivery dates without checking the schedule first.”
• “Include the company phone number (03 9555 1234) when a customer needs to speak to a human.”

Tip

Company directives are ideal for compliance requirements, brand standards, and privacy rules. If it applies to your whole business, it belongs in company directives. Give them High priority so no agent treats them as optional.

Setting company directives

1. Go to Settings

   From the sidebar, navigate to Settings.

2. Open the directives editor

   Find the company directives section. Directives are organised into category tabs (Core Values, Can Do, Cannot Do).

3. Write clear, specific rules

   Add each directive as a clear instruction, pick its category, and set its priority. Be specific about what the agent should or should not do. Vague directives like “be careful with data” are less effective than “Never include customer phone numbers in email subject lines.”

4. Save your changes

   Click Save. The directives take effect immediately for all new messages across every agent.

Agent directives

Agent directives are rules that apply to a single agent only. They are set in the Agent Directives section of the individual agent’s detail page and are useful for role-specific instructions that do not apply to other agents in your organisation.

For example, a quoting agent might have these agent directives:

• “Always include the job reference number when discussing work orders.”
• “When creating quotes, use the standard pricing from the shared knowledge base.”
• “If the total exceeds $5,000, flag the quote for manager review before sending.”
• “Include GST as a separate line item on all quotes.”

Meanwhile, a customer service agent might have completely different directives:

• “Always greet the customer by their first name if it is available.”
• “If the customer mentions an emergency (burst pipe, gas leak, power outage), immediately escalate to the dispatch agent.”
• “Never provide technical troubleshooting advice for gas appliances.”

Setting agent directives

1. Open the agent’s detail page

   From the Agents page, click on the agent you want to configure.

2. Find the Agent Directives section

   On the agent detail page, find the Agent Directives section. This is where you manage rules specific to this agent.

3. Write your directives

   Click Edit and add rules that are relevant to this agent’s role, with a category and priority for each. These work alongside company directives — the agent follows both sets of rules.

4. Save

   Click Save Directives. The new directives apply immediately to new messages.

Agents can manage their own directives

You can also just tell an agent the rule in chat — “from now on, always include the job number” — and it can add the directive to its own configuration. This is often faster than editing the list by hand.

How directives work together

When an agent processes a message, its company directives and agent directives are combined into a single rule set, grouped by priority. High-priority rules are presented to the agent as critical rules that must always be followed; medium-priority rules as standard guidelines; low-priority rules as preferences.

This means priority — not level — decides how strictly a rule is enforced. To make an organisation-wide rule effectively unbreakable, set it as a High priority company directive; an agent-level preference will not outweigh it.

Here is a practical example of how they layer together:

Level	Priority	Directive	Purpose
Company	High	”Never share customer personal information externally.”	Privacy compliance
Company	Medium	”Respond in Australian English.”	Brand consistency
Agent (Quoting)	Medium	”Use the standard pricing from the shared knowledge base.”	Role-specific accuracy
Agent (Quoting)	Low	”Include GST as a separate line item.”	Role-specific formatting

The quoting agent follows all four rules, treating the high-priority privacy rule as absolute. A different agent — say, a scheduling assistant — follows the two company directives plus its own agent directives.

Try asking your agent

“Add a company directive that all agents must respond in Australian English and never share customer phone numbers in external communications.”

Best practices

• Be specific. “Never discuss pricing without checking the knowledge base” is better than “Be careful about pricing.”
• Keep them concise. Agents perform best with clear, short rules rather than long paragraphs.
• Use priorities deliberately. Reserve High for rules that must never be broken; use Low for style preferences.
• Test your directives. After adding new rules, have a test conversation to make sure the agent follows them correctly.
• Review regularly. As your business processes change, update your directives to match. Outdated rules can cause confusion.

Next steps

• Agent Settings — Configure other aspects of your agent including persona, tools, and integrations.
• Creating Agents — Build a new agent and apply directives from the start.
• Team Settings — Manage organisation-level settings including company directives.
• Knowledge Bases — Give your agents reference material so directives like “check the knowledge base first” actually work.