Steer an agent with a sentence.
Tell an agent what to know or do differently. It picks up your note on its next run and keeps applying it. To change course, give new guidance.
The next plan dropped the discount.
After your note, the Reorders agent tested a brew-guide sequence against the old one, measured on second orders. Its report says plainly that it’s too early to call.
One proposal, your reply and what the agent did next
One exchange with the Reorders agent, start to finish. Your rules stopped its discount, and the note you left became its guidance.
- The offer
- It proposed25% off a second orderAfter your noteNo discount: a brew-guide sequence, tested against the old one
- What it reads before every plan
- It proposedA discount is the usual leverAfter your note“We don’t discount our coffee. Free shipping is as far as we go.”
The Reorders agent, October 19 to 24
Telling an agent what you think
- Step 1
Guidance is a note to the agent
“Keep the gift sets in every holiday campaign until December 15, even if they sell slowly.” Guidance can cover strategy, timing or taste: anything you’d tell a colleague, without hunting for the right setting.
- Step 2
Declining teaches, too
When you decline a proposal, say why. Your reason becomes guidance in that agent’s notebook, which the agent reads on its next run.
- Step 3
Editable until it’s picked up
Guidance waits for the agent’s next run, and until then you can reword or withdraw it. The run picks up everything waiting and locks it, so the history shows exactly what the agent was told.
- Step 4
The notebook keeps the agent’s reasoning
Each agent keeps its hypotheses, experiments, decisions, learnings and your guidance, each with a status such as testing, confirmed, approved by you or picked up. The notebook is the agent’s memory, and it doesn’t depend on any one model.
A stopped discount and what the agent learnedOne example, in order
Oct 19 · Reorders agent
Proposed an email, “Offer 25% off a second order to customers who haven’t come back,” to first-time buyers with no second order in 45 days. Its reason: a discount is the usual lever, and it hadn’t tested one yet.
Oct 19 · Your rules
Stopped it as it was proposed: your content rules allow no discounts. It never reached your inbox as a decision.
Oct 19 · You
Left the agent a note: “We don’t discount our coffee. Free shipping is as far as we go.” The note went into its notebook as guidance.
Oct 20 · Reorders agent
Picked up the note on its next run. The notebook marks it “Picked up Oct 20.”
Oct 20 · Reorders agent
Recorded a learning from an earlier test: short emails get more clicks than long ones. Halving the follow-up email more than doubled clicks to reorder.
Oct 24 · Reorders agent
Started a new test instead of a discount: a brew-guide sequence against the old one, measured on second orders.
How guidance is handled
Guidance follows a simple lifecycle. You can always see what an agent knew and when.
It waits for the next runBuilt in
New guidance shows as “Waiting for next run.” The agent’s next run picks up everything waiting for it.
Reword or withdraw it before it’s picked upBuilt in
While it waits, you can change it, and the earlier wording is kept. Withdrawn guidance stays in the notebook, marked as withdrawn.
It locks once picked upBuilt in
After the agent picks it up, guidance can’t be edited. To change course, write new guidance. Both notes are kept.
A paused agent doesn’t pick it upBuilt in
If an agent is off, or every agent has been stopped, guidance waits until the agent runs again.
Guidance can’t loosen a limitCompany setting
“Spend whatever it takes this week” doesn’t raise a cap. Limits are checked on every proposal.
Approvers can give guidanceRoles
Owners, admins and approvers can give guidance. Only owners and admins can edit the brief.
When you change your mind
What happens when I change my mind before the agent reads it?
Reword it or withdraw it. The earlier wording is kept as a revision, and withdrawn guidance stays in the notebook, marked as withdrawn.
What happens when I change my mind after?
Write new guidance. The old note stays in the notebook with the date it was picked up, so you can always see what the agent was working from.
What happens when guidance conflicts with a limit?
The limit wins. Guidance shapes what an agent proposes; your limits decide what can happen.
What happens when the agent is paused?
The guidance waits, and the agent picks it up on its first run after you turn it back on.
How quickly does an agent act on guidance?
From its next run. The notebook shows when the note was picked up.
Should I edit the brief or give guidance?
Use guidance for how to do the job this week or this season, and the brief for what the job is. If you keep repeating the same guidance, it belongs in the brief.
Does the agent forget guidance over time?
No. Guidance keeps applying, and the notebook keeps every note. To change course, give new guidance.
Tell an agent what you’d tell a colleague.
Your work email is all we need to start.