# Write the prompt and custom instructions

The **Prompt** tab holds the two texts you add to the assistant's prompt, **Your users** and **Custom instructions**, and the **Web search** switch. They apply to every chat user in the workspace.

## Before you begin

- Faustine Chat is set up for your workspace. See [Set up Faustine Chat for your team](https://docs.faustine.ai/apps/set-up-faustine-chat/).

## Describe your users

The assistant reads **Your users** before every conversation and adapts its help and tone to it.

1. In the portal, go to [**Faustine Chat**](https://auth.faustine.ai/go?to=%2Fapps%2Ffaustine-chat) and select **Configuration**.
2. Under **Assistant**, select [**Prompt**](https://auth.faustine.ai/go?to=%2Fapps%2Ffaustine-chat%2Fconfiguration%3Ftab%3Dprompt).
3. In **Your users**, enter who talks to the assistant and what they do. Two sentences are enough, and a list of names is not needed. The field takes up to 2,000 characters.
4. Select **Save**.

For example:

```text
Account managers at Nimbus. They look up companies and contacts, keep deals up to date and answer questions about pricing.
```

## Write custom instructions

**Custom instructions** are added to the assistant's prompt for every user. Use them for the language and tone of the answers, and for how to use your gateways, such as which connection to choose in a given case.

1. On the same tab, enter the text in **Custom instructions**. The field takes up to 8,000 characters.
2. Select **Save instructions**.

For example:

```text
Answer in Spanish. Show amounts in euros. Before you change a deal, show its current stage and owner.
```

Both texts apply to the next message of every conversation, including the ones already open.

Custom instructions cannot turn off confirmation. An operation marked as requiring confirmation waits for the user whatever the instructions say, because the gateway refuses the call without the user's answer.

## Turn web search on or off

**Web search** lets the assistant search the internet for information that is not in your gateways or your documents. It is on by default.

To change it, turn the **Web search** switch on or off on the same tab.

Web search uses Anthropic's web search tool. It is available when the chat runs on an Anthropic model through Anthropic or Vercel AI Gateway. Otherwise the switch is disabled, and the card says why. When the assistant uses a web page, the reply lists it under **Sources**.

## Next steps

- [Add knowledge and skills to Faustine Chat](https://docs.faustine.ai/apps/chat-knowledge-and-skills/): give the assistant your documents and edit what it knows about each gateway.
- [Model providers](https://docs.faustine.ai/workspace/model-providers/): the provider and model the chat runs on.
- [Faustine Chat](https://docs.faustine.ai/apps/faustine-chat/): what the assistant draws on for each answer.