How to Add Guidance Rules

Summary

Overview: Guidance rules are plain-language instructions Pippin follows when it writes, such as "Never mention competitor names" or "Always ask for the travel dates before giving a price". You add them by category and choose the channels each rule applies to.

Prerequisites:

• You are the Admin of the workspace.

How Pippin Decides

1. When Pippin writes a reply, it collects the rules that are switched on and ticked for that conversation's channel.
2. It follows those rules when it writes the reply. The same rules apply when it drafts a quote or writes an AI intro for that channel.
3. Pippin answers leads from Facebook Lead Ads and web forms by email, so rules ticked for Email apply to those replies.
4. The AI voice agent follows the rules ticked for SMS.

Limits

• Each rule's instruction can be up to 2,500 characters, and its title up to 100 characters. Keep your rule set short and focused; Pippin follows a limited number of rules per conversation.
• The channels you can tick are Email, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Lead and Web Form. In AI Studio, you can't choose Messenger or web chat as a rule's channel.
• Guidance rules shape replies Pippin is already writing. They can't send messages on a schedule. Use Sequences for follow-ups.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Open the guidance rules

1. In the left menu, go to Settings › AI Studio.
2. Click the Guidance tab. The tab's count shows how many rules you have.
3. In the section list on the left, click a category: Communication style, Context & clarification, Content & sources, Spam or Other. Each shows how many rules it holds.

Step 2: Add a rule

1. In the category's section, click New guidance (or the dashed New … guidance button under the rules).
2. In Add Guidance Rule, fill in:
   • Title: a short name, for example "Never mention competitor names".
   • Instruction: what Pippin should do, in plain English. The counter shows how many of the 2,500 characters you used.
   • Category: set to the section you started from. A new rule is always saved in that section, so start from the right one. To move a rule later, edit it and change its Category.
   • Enabled: leave on to use the rule right away.
   • Channels: click each channel the rule applies to. Email is ticked to start. At least one channel is required.
3. Optional: click Optimize with AI to have the instruction rewritten to be clearer and more specific. Read the result and edit it if needed.
4. Click Add Rule. The message "Guidance rule added." appears and the rule shows as a card.

Step 3: Edit, switch off or delete a rule

1. To edit, click the rule's card. Change it in Edit Guidance Rule and click Save Changes. The message "Rule updated." appears.
2. To pause a rule, turn off the switch on its card. The card fades. Turn it on again to use the rule.
3. To delete, click the bin icon on the card, then Delete in Delete Guidance Rule?. The message "Rule deleted." appears.

Step 4 (optional): Other ways to add rules

• Setup wizard: after you click Continue on the Your knowledge step, Pippin writes a few starter rules from your business and your knowledge, for example your deposit or cancellation terms. They are saved and switched on for you. The Guidance rules row in the setup feed shows how many it wrote, with Change in AI Studio after go-live. If your workspace already had guidance rules, the wizard leaves them as they are and writes none.
• Pippify Coach: ask Coach to add or change a rule, for example "Add a rule to always ask for the group size." Coach shows a Proposed change card. As the Admin, click Apply to save it, or Dismiss.

Verify It Worked

Success criteria:

• The rule shows as a card in its category, with its channel and category chips, and the switch is on.
• In Test Pippin, ask a question the rule covers. The Event log tab shows Guidance fired with your rule's title. Test Pippin chats as an email customer, so the rule must include Email to show here.

Troubleshooting

Common errors

• "Select at least one channel": no channel is ticked. Fix: click at least one channel.
• Add Rule stays grey: Title or Instruction is empty, or no channel is ticked.
• "AI improve failed. Please try again.": Optimize with AI couldn't rewrite the text. Fix: try again, or edit the text yourself.
• "That rule reads like a follow-up schedule — guidance rules can't send messages on a timer, so it won't run from here.": the rule describes timed follow-ups. Fix: click Set it up in Sequences and build a follow-up sequence instead.
• "Failed to add rule." or "Failed to update.": the save didn't go through. Fix: try again.

Limitations & considerations

• A rule that is switched off is kept but not used.
• Instructions for quote documents and AI intros can also go in Quote and intro instructions on the Quotes tab. See How to Set Quote Instructions and Default Currency.
• Check the channels on rules the setup wizard wrote, and edit any rule that doesn't fit.

Next Steps & Related Resources

• Next steps:
  • How to Test Pippin Before Going Live
  • How to Turn a Schedule in a Guidance Rule Into a Sequence
• Related articles:
  • How Pippify Builds Scoring Attributes and Guidance Rules
  • How to Complete the Setup Wizard
  • How to Create a Follow-Up Sequence
  • How to Let Pippin Reply to Messenger Messages
  • How to Improve Pippin's Replies With Coach

Need more help? For more information and assistance, please send an email to support@pippify.ai.

Last Updated: 10/19/2026