> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.helpalive.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Personalization: tone, custom answers, and guidance > Set the AI Agent's tone, control how it handles different kinds of questions, and override its replies for specific topics — all from Agent → Personalization. The **Agent → Personalization** tab is where you shape *how* the AI Agent talks to your users. Three areas, each with its own card on the page. Open your dashboard and go to **Agent → Personalization**. ## Guidance basics This is the Agent's default behavior — the rules it follows when it answers any question. | Setting | What it does | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Tone** | Formal, casual, or friendly. Changes how the Agent phrases its replies. | | **Response length** | Short, medium, or long. The Agent stays inside the length you pick. | | **Suggest articles** | If on, the Agent links to specific docs from your knowledge base inside its replies. | Pick what fits your product's voice. You can always come back and adjust — every change is staged as a draft until you publish. ## Custom responses Custom responses are exact replies you write yourself. If a user's question matches a custom response topic, the Agent uses your reply instead of generating one from your docs. Use this when you need full control over what the Agent says. Common cases: * **Pricing and billing** — "Our plans start at X. Talk to sales for custom quotes" instead of letting the Agent make something up from a half-published pricing page. * **Legal-sensitive questions** — refund eligibility, data residency, regulatory compliance. Word these exactly the way your legal team approves. * **Plan-specific gates** — "That feature is on the Pro plan. Click here to upgrade." * **Time-sensitive notices** — "We're in maintenance until Tuesday. Sorry for the disruption." Each custom response has a topic name, the trigger conditions, and the exact reply text. Click **Add custom response** to create one. ## Guidance templates Guidance templates are pre-written fallbacks for broad categories of questions. They kick in when nothing in your knowledge base matches well — so instead of a generic "I don't have that information" reply, the Agent gives users a useful next step. HelpAlive ships templates for six common categories: | Category | Default behavior | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Feature requests** | Thanks the user, points them at your feedback channel. | | **Bugs** | Asks the user for steps to reproduce, opens a path to support. | | **Billing** | Refers to the right billing contact or page. | | **Account** | Tells the user where to find account-management actions. | | **General questions** | A graceful "let me get someone who can help" fallback. | | **Other** | Catch-all when none of the above fit. | You can edit any template's text or turn it off entirely. The templates use the same tokens as the welcome message — `{displayName}`, `{plan}`, etc. — so the fallback can still feel personal. ## How they fit together The Agent decides which response to use, in this order: 1. **A custom response** for an exact topic? Use that. 2. **A confident match in your knowledge base**? Answer from your docs, using the tone and length set in Guidance basics. 3. **No confident match**? Fall back to the matching guidance template. This means custom responses always win, your docs are the everyday answer, and templates make sure the user never gets stranded. ## Draft and publish Like everything else in the Agent, changes are staged as drafts. Use **Agent → Test** to preview the Agent's behavior with your draft tone, custom responses, and templates before you publish. See [Publishing](/agent/publishing). ## Next steps Run questions through your draft personalization. Stage and verify before going live. Add the knowledge sources the Agent answers from. See which questions need a custom response or new template.