---
title: "Define your AI Agent's personality and tone"
description: "Set your AI Agent's name, tone, vocabulary, instructions, context and escalation mode in Personality."
url: https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/72-define-your-ai-agent-s-personality-and-tone
collection: "AI Agent"
updated: 2026-10-21
language: en
alternates: [fr-fr]
---

# Define your AI Agent's personality and tone

Set your AI Agent's name, tone, vocabulary, instructions, context and escalation mode in Personality.

A good WhatsApp assistant gives accurate information, but it also needs to sound like your brand. In the AI Agent's **Personality** section, you define how it talks to your customers and what it does when it cannot answer.

> **Info:** **Scale plan required**
> The AI Agent is available on the Scale and Business plans.

First enter the **Agent Name**: the name the agent uses (e.g. "Lea from \[Your Store\]"). The page is then organized in four tabs: **Tone & Style**, **Vocabulary**, **Instructions** and **Business Context**.

## Tone & Style tab

-   **Formality**: informal or formal address.
    
-   **General Tone**: Relaxed, Standard, Premium or Luxury. Pick the one that matches your positioning, then fine-tune with your Custom Instructions.
    
-   **Emojis**: 4 levels, Never, Rare, Moderate or Frequent.
    
-   **Answer length**: 3 levels, Short (2 to 3 sentences), Standard (4 to 6 sentences) or Detailed (no limit).
    
-   **Greeting Formula** and **Closing Formula**: how the agent opens and closes its messages.
    

## Vocabulary tab

-   **Signature Expressions**: expressions specific to your brand that the agent can use (10 maximum).
    
-   **Forbidden Words**: terms the agent must never use (20 maximum).
    

Two fields complete the description of your brand: **Brand Voice** (1,000 characters maximum), to describe how you talk, and **Key Information**, for the essential information the agent must know.

## Instructions tab

The **Custom Instructions** (6,000 characters maximum) guide the structure and style of the answers. Examples:

-   "Use short sentences."
    
-   "Never offer a discount."
    
-   "Recommend our premium line first."
    

Custom Instructions take precedence over your sources (website pages, documents, Custom Q&A): in case of conflict, the AI follows your instructions. This is the right place for a rule that must always apply. See [Control your answers with Custom Q&A](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/71-control-your-answers-with-custom-qanda.md).

> **Warning:** **Auto Setup replaces your Custom Instructions**
> Running Auto Setup again overwrites your existing Custom Instructions. Copy them before running it again.

### Example: high-end jewelry brand

> _"Take a warm but very refined approach. Use vocabulary tied to elegance and brilliance. Be attentive, like a grand hotel concierge, but stay approachable."_

-   **Without instructions**: _"This necklace is made of 18-karat gold."_
    
-   **With these instructions**: _"This necklace is crafted in 18-karat gold, for a timeless brilliance that will elevate your outfits."_
    

## Business Context tab

Enter your shipping and returns information, your hours and your current promotions. Each field accepts up to 5,000 characters.

> **Info:** **Hours are informational**
> The hours you enter, including the Support Hours setting, are information for the AI. They do not stop the AI from replying: it replies 24/7.

## When the AI can't answer block

At the bottom of the page, this block sets what the AI does when it cannot handle a request:

-   the escalation mode: **Hand off to a human** (the AI pauses and your team is alerted) or **Give a contact email** (the AI gives an address and keeps replying);
    
-   **Public contact email**: the address given to the customer, required in Give a contact email mode;
    
-   **Enable automatic AI re-activation**: turns the AI back on automatically after an escalation, once the chosen delay has passed (7 days by default).
    

All the details in [AI Agent escalation to your team](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/128-ai-agent-escalation-to-your-team.md).

## Save and test

1.  In the left menu, click **AI Agent**, then open **Personality**.
    
2.  Fill in each tab, then the When the AI can't answer block.
    
3.  Click **Save**.
    
4.  Run a few conversations in the **Playground** (free). If the AI feels too casual or too distant, adjust the tone or your Custom Instructions.
    

See also [Discover the Kanal AI Agent](https://help.getkanal.com/en/articles/89-discover-the-kanal-ai-agent.md).