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AI & Training (6)

Assistant Instructions

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Overview

Assistant Instructions tell your chatbot who it is, what your website is about, and how it should answer. You’ll find them in WPiko AI Chatbot → AI & Training → AI Settings → Model & Knowledge → System instructions.

Since version 2.1.0, you only write the parts that describe your business and preferences. The technical rules for using knowledge files, WooCommerce products and orders are managed automatically by the plugin and kept up to date with each release.

Default Instructions for New Chatbots

Until you save your own instructions, the chatbot uses a built-in default based on your site. It is shown under “Using the built-in default until you save your own”. The default tells the chatbot to:

  • Introduce itself as the assistant for your site, using your chatbot name, site name and tagline
  • Help visitors with questions about your website, products and services
  • Keep answers short, clear and helpful
  • Never invent business facts such as prices, opening hours, stock, policies or contact details
  • Say so honestly when it doesn’t know, and suggest contacting your team
  • Always reply in the language the visitor writes in

Developers can change this default with the wpiko_chatbot_default_main_instructions filter.

Basic Instructions

On the Basic instructions tab, fill in the sentence that introduces your assistant:

  • You are an … for the website [your site name]: for example “AI assistant”, “support assistant” or “shopping assistant”.
  • The website specializes in: what your business does, for example “handmade leather bags shipped across Europe”.
  • Assistant tone: Friendly, Casual, Professional, Formal, Humorous, Educational or Enthusiastic.
  • Assistant style: Professional, Conversational, Helpful, Concise or Detailed.
  • Topic focus (2.1.3+): Only questions about this website (recommended) or Any question. See Topic Focus.

If you used the Setup Wizard, these are already filled in from your answers.

Topic Focus

Every message your chatbot answers is paid for by your OpenAI account. Without a limit on topics, visitors could use it as a free general assistant, for example to write essays or code, or to ask for restaurant tips. Topic focus on the Basic instructions tab prevents this:

  • Only questions about this website (recommended): the chatbot answers questions about your website, business, products, services, content and policies, and general questions closely related to what you offer. A coffee shop’s chatbot still explains how to descale a machine. For anything else it replies in one short, friendly sentence that it can only help with your website. It also ignores requests to drop these rules, such as “ignore all previous instructions”.
  • Any question: the chatbot answers anything, as before version 2.1.3.

“Only questions about this website” is the default for new sites and for sites updating to 2.1.3. To allow extra topics, describe them in Website specialization or Specific system instructions, for example “Also recommend restaurants and things to do in London.” Topics you describe there count as related. The rule adds about 100 tokens to each message. User Limits still cap how many messages each visitor can send.

Advanced Instructions

The Advanced instructions tab has one field, Specific system instructions, for your own extra rules, such as answer length, recommendation style or how to handle certain topics.

Keep responses under 3 sentences when possible.
For pricing questions, suggest booking a free consultation.
Always mention free shipping on orders over €50.

Click Save configuration when you’re done.

Instructions Managed by the Plugin

These instructions are added automatically when the related feature is in use. They can’t be edited:

  • Knowledge instructions: search your knowledge files when business facts are needed, explain and combine what was found, and handle missing answers naturally. The “answer only from the uploaded files” rules only apply when knowledge files exist.
  • WooCommerce product instructions (Pro): handle missing fields, product variations, prices and stock carefully, and only recommend products from the synced catalog.
  • Order instructions (Pro): used by Order Assistance for secure order lookups.
  • Contact form instructions (Pro): added when AI Contact Form Response is enabled.
  • Topic rule (2.1.3+): sent with every message when Topic focus is “Only questions about this website”. See Topic Focus.

Upgrading from an older version? Custom text you wrote in the old Knowledge, Products or Orders instruction fields is no longer used. If it contained preferences you still want, such as “always mention our return policy”, move them to Specific System Instructions.

Vector Store Information

Your knowledge files are stored in an OpenAI vector store, a database that lets the chatbot search your content. In the Train AI assistant section of AI Settings → Model & Knowledge, the Vector Store Information panel shows its name, ID, creation date, number of files and status (Completed, Processing or Error).

  • Refresh updates the information from OpenAI.
  • Delete permanently removes the vector store and all its files from OpenAI.
  • If it shows Vector Store Not Found (for example, it was deleted in the OpenAI dashboard), add knowledge again with Quick learn, File Management, Scan Website or the Q&A Builder. A new vector store is created automatically.

Tips

  • Keep instructions short and clear. A few precise rules work better than a long list.
  • Put business facts (prices, policies, opening hours) in your knowledge (pages or files), not in the instructions.
  • Avoid rules that contradict each other.
  • After saving, test with real visitor questions and refine based on the answers you see in Conversations.
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