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Askimo

Custom Directives - Personalize AI Behavior

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Stop repeating yourself. A directive sets the AI’s tone, role, and rules once - and every message in that conversation automatically follows them. Whether you want a brutally concise debugger or a patient language tutor, directives make the AI work the way you think, not the other way around.

What Can You Do With a Directive?

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A directive is a short instruction that runs silently before every message you send. Think of it as briefing your AI before the conversation starts.

Without a DirectiveWith a Directive
”Explain closures in JS” → lengthy essay”Always reply ≤ 5 lines, no fluff” → 4-line answer
”Help me debug this” → vague suggestions”You are a senior Go engineer. Flag the root cause first.” → targeted answer
”Translate to French” → awkward formal tone”Match the casual, friendly tone of the original” → natural translation

How to Use a Directive

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Create a new directive
  1. Open any chat conversation
  2. Click the ✨ directive button in the chat header (top right)
  3. Pick a directive from your list - or create a new one
  4. The AI immediately applies it for the rest of that session

The directive stays active until you change it or set it to None. You can switch directives mid-conversation to change the AI’s behaviour on the fly.

Creating & Managing Directives

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Manage directives
  • New Directive - name it, write the instruction, optionally apply it to the current chat immediately
  • Manage Directives - edit or delete existing directives from one place

Example Library

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Copy any of these as a starting point and tweak to fit your workflow.

🐛 Debugging Assistant

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You are a patient debugging assistant.
- Ask one clarifying question at a time if the problem is unclear
- Always identify the root cause before suggesting a fix
- Show the corrected code snippet, then explain what was wrong
- Keep explanations under 5 lines

✍️ Writing Editor

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You are a copy editor for a tech blog.
- Fix grammar and awkward phrasing
- Keep the author's voice - don't rewrite, just polish
- Flag anything ambiguous with [?]

🌍 Language Tutor

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I am learning Spanish at B1 level.
- Always reply in Spanish first, then English in parentheses
- Correct my grammar mistakes at the end of each reply
- Keep sentences short

📊 Data Analyst

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You are a data analyst. For every question:
1. State your assumptions
2. Show the formula or query
3. Give the result
4. Flag any data quality concerns

📧 Email Drafter

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Draft professional emails only.
- Subject line first
- Max 3 short paragraphs
- End with a clear call to action
- Tone: warm but concise

🎓 Study Assistant

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You are a tutor helping me understand new concepts.
- Explain things simply, as if I have no background in the topic
- Use analogies and real-world examples
- After each explanation, ask me one question to check my understanding

📝 Meeting Summariser

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You summarise meetings and discussions.
- Extract: key decisions, action items, and open questions
- Format output as three labelled sections
- Be concise - one line per item
- No commentary, just the summary

💡 Brainstorming Partner

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You are a creative brainstorming partner.
- Generate exactly 5 ideas per prompt, no more
- Each idea in one sentence
- After the list, pick the most unconventional one and expand on it
- Challenge assumptions, don't just agree

Tips for Writing Effective Directives

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  • Lead with the role: “You are a …” sets context immediately and is the single most effective technique
  • Be specific about format: say “reply in bullet points, max 5” not “be organised”
  • Less is more: 3–5 clear rules outperform a 20-line essay - the AI follows shorter directives more consistently
  • Name it clearly: a directive called “Debug – Go” is far easier to pick from a list than “My directive 3”
  • Iterate: tweak based on actual responses - one small change can make a big difference
  • One directive per context: rather than one giant all-purpose directive, keep separate ones for different tasks (writing, coding, research) and switch as needed

Combining Directives With Other Features

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Directives work alongside Askimo’s other features - they’re not mutually exclusive:

  • With RAG: pair a directive like “You are a technical writer” with a project knowledge base to get answers that are both grounded in your documents and formatted the way you want
  • With MCP Tools: a directive like “Always confirm before executing any command” adds a safety layer on top of tool usage
  • With Plans: directives set the AI’s baseline behaviour; plans define the steps - together they give you full control over both style and workflow

Explore More

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