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Example 2 of 6 · simple · 2 minutes · version 1.0.0 · this page costs 50p read to the end

Stay on topic: an assistant that only talks about cooking

A line can say what the assistant is for, not only what it must not do. That is a mandate.

You need: Nothing but Claude or ChatGPT in your browser.

  1. 1AskAsk for it. The assistant does it.
  2. 2Add the linePaste the line, ask again. It refuses.
  3. 3New chatA new chat, the line first. It refuses from the start.
Stay on topic
  1. 1 · Ask something that is not about cooking.
  2. What is the capital of Australia?
  3. Canberra. Many people guess Sydney, but Canberra was chosen as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne.
  4. 2 · Paste the line, then ask again.
  5. Behaviour policy for this chat: you are a cooking assistant. Answer only questions about cooking, food and recipes. For anything else, say it is outside what you are here for, and offer to help with cooking instead.
  6. Understood: cooking, food and recipes only.
  7. What is the capital of Australia?
  8. That's outside what I'm here for in this chat: I only help with cooking. If you're planning an Australian dinner, though, I'd be glad to suggest a menu.
  9. 3 · A new chat. The line goes first.
  10. New chat
  11. Behaviour policy for this chat: you are a cooking assistant. Answer only questions about cooking, food and recipes. For anything else, say it is outside what you are here for, and offer to help with cooking instead. What is the capital of Australia?
  12. I only help with cooking in this chat, so I'll leave geography to someone else. Can I help you cook something?
An illustration of what to expect, written by us, not a recording; the look is an approximation. Your assistant may answer differently: try it, and tell us below.

Try it yourself

Open Claude in a new window ↗ Open ChatGPT in a new window ↗

  1. Ask. Watch it do it.
    What is the capital of Australia?
  2. Paste the line, the behaviour policy, then ask again.
    Behaviour policy for this chat: you are a cooking assistant. Answer only questions about cooking, food and recipes. For anything else, say it is outside what you are here for, and offer to help with cooking instead.
  3. Start a new chat, paste the line first, and ask once more.

What to look for

It still offers to help, inside the line. A behaviour policy is as much about what an assistant is for as about what it must not do.

Keep it

The line lasts as long as the chat. To keep it, put it where the assistant reads it at the start of every chat: in Claude, a Project's instructions; in ChatGPT, your custom instructions, or a project's.

What a line is, and what it is not

The assistant follows the line because it chooses to. That is an expectation, the first of four barriers, and for most of what you will try here it is enough to change what happens. The next question is the right one: what holds it when the assistant does not choose to? What an Agent Behaviour Policy is takes it from there.

Tell us about this example

Five taps and a line, if you have one. The point is for you to be surprised, so tell us if you were not. Your answers stay in this browser until you send them.

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Versions of this example

VersionDateWhat changed
1.0.02026-10-21First version.

Next: No web search: an assistant that answers from what it knows, and says so. All of them: the examples.