​
How Preferences Work

When someone signs up to use your agent, they’ll go through a simple onboarding process where you can ask them for their preferences, requirements, or personal details. This information gets saved to their profile and your agent automatically uses it in every conversation - no need to ask the same questions over and over.

​
Real-World Example

Imagine you’re building an agent that helps people find shelter kittens for adoption. Instead of asking “What breed do you prefer?” in every conversation, you can set up preferences to store:
  • Preferred breed
  • Location/zip code
  • Age preference (kitten vs adult)
  • Size preference
  • Color preferences
  • Any special needs they can accommodate
Now every time they use your agent, it already knows their preferences and can immediately search for cats that match their criteria.

​
Creating Preferences

Click “Create new setting” to add a preference that users will provide during onboarding. Screenshot2025 07 23at12 32 42PM Pn

​
Preference Options

  • Group: Organize related settings together for a cleaner onboarding experience
  • Name: Create the label that your customer will see (e.g. Zip Code, or “What is your location?”)
  • Type: Choose from text, dropdown, number, or other input types
  • Description: Provide instructions that will help your customers understand what to enter
  • Default Value: Pre-fill common answers to make onboarding faster
  • Help URL: Link to additional explanation if needed
  • Required: Select if customers must provide this information to continue
Requiring a setting displays it for the user during their onboarding, before they use the agent

​
Instructing the Agent

Include a simple tag in your agent’s behavior so that it knows to reference these settings.
Insert the text at the top of the instructions (include the curly brackets). Screenshot2025 07 23at12 34 12PM Pn

​
Types of Preferences

Here are just a few ideas for preferences to collect from you subscribers:

​
Basic Information

  • Location/zip code
  • Industry or profession
  • Company size
  • Experience level

​
Requirements

  • Budget ranges
  • Preferred communication style
  • Specific needs or constraints
  • Goals and objectives

​
Integration Details

  • API keys for services
  • Account information
  • Custom URLs or endpoints
  • Third-party credentials

​
User Experience

Once you’ve set up preferences, new customers will see required settings during their onboarding. They can update their preferences anytime in their account settings, and the changes will immediately affect how your agent responds to them. Your agent automatically has access to all of this personalized information in every conversation, making each interaction feel tailored specifically to that user.

​
Getting Started

  1. Think about what makes each customer unique for your specific use case
  2. Start with 3-5 essential settings - you can always add more later
  3. Create clear, helpful descriptions for each setting
  4. Update your agent’s instructions to reference the preferences data (the word settings in double curly brackets)
Keep Onboarding Simple
  • Only ask for information your agent actually uses
  • Group related settings together
  • Provide clear descriptions and examples
  • Use default values when possible
Make It Optional When You Can
  • Required settings create friction during signup
  • Users can always update their preferences later
  • Consider what’s truly necessary vs. nice-to-have
Test Your Onboarding
  • Go through the signup process yourself
  • Make sure questions are clear and easy to answer
  • Verify your agent uses the collected information properly