Give Bidhelm an instruction

Give an instruction

In chat. Say it the way you'd tell a colleague: "always…", "never…" or "ask me before…". Bidhelm saves it to your instructions. If you want it to end, say so when you give it, for example "for the next two weeks".

In Memory. Select your workspace name at the top of the sidebar, then Memory. Under Instructions, select Edit as text and add a line in your own words. One instruction per line.

From Bidhelm. Bidhelm sometimes suggests an instruction, based on feedback you keep giving. The suggestion shows in History. Open it and select Approve to add it, or Dismiss, with a reason if you like.

From a learning. On a pattern under What it learned, select Make it an instruction. See Memory.

In chat, if a new instruction contradicts one you already have, Bidhelm asks you whether to replace it.

There's a limit on how many instructions can be active at once. When you reach it, pause or remove one before adding another.

How Bidhelm follows them

Most instructions are guidance. Bidhelm reads your active instructions when it decides on a change, writes an ad, posts or replies. Open an instruction to see where it applies.

Some instructions are also checked in code, so they hold even when a setting says otherwise. Memory marks these Enforced and says what they hold:

• Asks before posting or replying. An instruction like "every post waits for my approval" keeps Publish posts and Reply to comments and mentions on ask, whatever Settings › Permissions says.
• No ad restarts unless you ask. An instruction like "never restart paused ads" stops Bidhelm from turning paused ads back on. The Overview shows Paused ads stay off while a campaign is paused, with Open instruction to see the rule.
• Budget rules. Limits like "never scale Orbit Brand by more than 10% at a time", "don't cut this campaign's budget" or "don't increase this budget" hold Bidhelm's budget changes to them.

Bidhelm reads an instruction for these when you save it, and again each time you edit its words.

Rules for your social account

With a social account connected, Edit as text also takes three kinds of line:

• never: something never to say.
• hold: something to hold for your review, ending with the words to watch for, like hold: refund questions (words: refund, money back).
• notify: something to tell you about, with its words the same way.

The list also shows Bidhelm's defaults, the safe rules every account starts with. You can reword, pause or remove a default, and Restore puts it back as it shipped. One default, about self-harm and threats, can be reworded but never paused or removed.

Edit, pause or remove an instruction

On each row under Instructions:

• The pencil edits the words in place. Press Enter to save or Esc to cancel.
• Pause stops Bidhelm following it but keeps it on the list. Resume turns it back on. Turned off at the top of Memory shows every paused one.
• The bin removes it. Confirm with Remove, or select Keep.

Select an instruction's words to open it. The panel shows how it was learned and where it applies, with Edit text, Disable, Delete and Correct in chat. Delete can't be undone, and the instruction stops being followed right away.

To change many at once, use Edit as text: edit a line to change it, delete a line to remove it, or wrap it as ~~a line~~ to pause it.

Owners and admins can change social rules and Bidhelm's defaults.

Common questions