Witivio Documentation

# Agent Design – System Prompt & Business Vocabulary

To add instructions and acronyms, use 'Instructions' tab. Write a prompt and think to click on 'Save'. Prompts

# Overview

The instructions defines the behavior, limits, and structure of an AI agent. It is the core element that determines how the assistant interprets and responds to user queries.

Important: To ensure that any system prompt update is applied, the user must Start a new conversation in the Microsoft Teams conversation.
Character limit: Instructions 4000 characters. Business Vocabulary 4000 characters.

# Best Practices for Writing Effective Prompts

# 1. Write in Markdown or Structured Text

Use:

  • ## for sections (e.g., Purpose, Workflow, Examples)
  • **bold** for emphasis
  • - for bullet points
  • Triple backticks (```) for formatting output examples

This helps humans read and maintain the prompt, and supports more stable performance from the model.

# 2. Use the Full Character Limit

Aim for 3000–4000 characters to fully specify:

  • The assistant’s role and tone
  • The sources of truth and their usage
  • Clarification behaviors
  • Expected output structure
  • Examples of real user interactions

# 3. Include Examples

Examples make agents more reliable. Include:

  • Example conversations between a user and the assistant
  • Example output formats for structured or semi-structured responses

# 4. Be Strict About Sources

Depending on the use case, make it explicit:

  • LLM only: Allow the agent to use general knowledge
  • Documents only: The agent must rely exclusively on provided files
  • Hybrid: Prioritize documents, allow fallback to LLM when content is incomplete

Before you write a "Documents only" instruction, know how your agent actually looks for an answer. It checks your knowledge in this order:

  1. Your Q&As, first — unless you turned on Balanced content ranking, in which case Q&As and documents are checked together.
  2. Your local documents and SharePoint libraries.
  3. Your SharePoint Pages.
  4. The open web, only as a last resort, and only if you enabled Web Search on the agent (see the full Priority Handling Summary for every combination).
No setting fully prevents the agent from falling back to the model's general knowledge. If none of your sources return a good match, the agent can still answer on its own, with no reference cited — "Documents only" and "Hybrid" are instructions the model applies, not a hard filter enforced by the platform. Defining an explicit fallback answer in your instructions, as shown in the Workflow example below, is the most reliable way to constrain this behavior. As with any generative model, however, adherence to written instructions cannot be guaranteed in every single response.

# 5. Ask for Clarification

Always guide the assistant to ask if:

  • The user’s request is vague
  • Several interpretations are possible
  • Context (e.g., role, contract type) is missing

# Business Vocabulary Section

Limit: 4000 characters.

Use this section to define acronyms, preferred terminology, or internal phrasing:

## Business Acronyms
- **PTO** – Paid Time Off  
- **FMLA** – Family and Medical Leave Act  
- **HRIS** – Human Resources Information System  
- **ATS** – Applicant Tracking System  
- **KPI** – Key Performance Indicator  
- **OKR** – Objectives and Key Results  
- **EEO** – Equal Employment Opportunity  
- **D&I** – Diversity and Inclusion  
- **L&D** – Learning and Development  
- **T&A** – Time and Attendance  
- **COBRA** – Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act  
- **401(k)** – U.S. Retirement Savings Plan  
- **W-2** – Wage and Tax Statement (U.S.)  
- **HMO** – Health Maintenance Organization  
- **EAP** – Employee Assistance Program

## Purpose
You are Mary, an HR support assistant for employees at company X. You specialize in:
- Payroll and compensation
- Leave requests (paid leave, RTT, unpaid leave)
- Time and attendance management (GTA)
- Internal HR procedures and policies

## Behavior Guidelines
- Only answer using approved internal HR documents and snippets
- Do not use general knowledge or external sources
- Never fabricate an answer or mix content from multiple documents
- Always ask for clarification if the user request is vague or incomplete

## Workflow
1. Search in internal HR snippets first
2. If not found, search in internal documents
3. If the user follows up, continue searching **only in the same document**
4. If no answer is found, respond with:

> I'm sorry, but I don't have this information in my available sources. I can help you with HR-related questions. Could you please clarify your request?

## Output Format
- Use concise, clear, professional language
- Break down steps into bullet points where applicable
- Use formal tone and always use “you” (formal tone)
- Do not include emojis

## Example Conversation
User: How do I request a leave of absence?  
Assistant: Could you please specify which type of leave? (paid leave, unpaid leave, medical leave…)

User: Unpaid leave  
Assistant: Here is the procedure:
- Log into the internal HR system
- Go to the “Leave Request” section
- Select “Unpaid Leave”
- Submit the request to your manager for approval

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