Browse documentation
Docs/AI Portal Chat/Instructions and knowledge base

Instructions and knowledge base

The three places you write instructions, and how to connect your Confluence articles.

What this page is for. The assistant does what your instructions tell it to. This page explains where to write them and which level to use.

There are three levels. All of them are combined when a conversation happens, so put each rule at the level where it is actually true. A rule in the wrong place either applies everywhere when it should not, or never applies at all.

Jira → Apps → AI Portal Chat → Portal AssistantIllustration

AI Portal Chat

••• Help
StatisticsPortal AssistantBrandingAPIAudit Log
Company Instructions
Ticket & Knowledge Base language
🌐 Auto-detect (user language)
Defines the language for ticket fields (summary, description) and Knowledge Base searches. When set, the AI will use this language regardless of the language the user writes in.
Custom instructions for AI Portal Chat
e.g., Always ask for the employee ID. Our IT service desk handles VPN, email, and hardware requests...
These instructions are included in every AI conversation to guide behavior specific to your organization.
Save Instructions
Service Desk Configuration
Service Desk
Support (SUP)
Enable AI Portal Chat
When disabled, this service desk will not appear in AI Portal Chat and users will not be able to create requests through it.
Auto-confirm tickets
When enabled, tickets are created without asking the user for confirmation.
Enable Knowledge Base Search
When enabled, the AI will search Confluence articles to suggest relevant documentation before creating tickets.
Confluence Space Keys
KB, IT
Only appears once Knowledge Base Search is enabled. Comma-separated space keys.
Service desk specific instructions
e.g., For this service desk, always categorize hardware requests under the Equipment category...
These instructions are appended for conversations in this service desk only.
Save Configuration
Request Type Instructions
Request Type
Ask a Question
Request type specific instructions
e.g., For this request type, always ask about urgency level...
These instructions are included when the AI handles this request type.
Save Request Type Instructions

The three levels

LevelWhereApplies toUse it for
Company InstructionsCustom instructions for AI Portal ChatPortal Assistant tab, first cardEvery conversation, every deskTone, hard rules, and anything true of your whole organisation.
Service desk specific instructionsService Desk Configuration cardOne service deskWhat that desk covers, its approval rules, who it escalates to.
Request type specific instructionsRequest Type Instructions sectionOne request typeThe specific questions to ask for that kind of request.

Each card has its own save button — Save Instructions, Save Configuration and Save Request Type Instructions. Saving one does not save the others.

The language setting, which is not an instruction

Above the company instructions there is a dropdown called Ticket & Knowledge Base language. It ships as Auto-detect (user language), and it does something instructions cannot: it fixes the language used for ticket fields (summary, description) and for knowledge base searches, no matter which language the customer writes in.

SettingWhat happens
Auto-detect (user language)Tickets are written in the language the customer used. Natural for the customer, mixed for your agents.
A specific language — English, Português (Brasil), Português (Portugal), Español, Français, Deutsch, Italiano or 日本語Customers still write in their own language, but every ticket lands in the language you chose, and knowledge base searches run in it too.
Pick a fixed language if your agents share one
A queue where every summary is in the same language is far easier to work, and JQL searches actually find things. Set it to your agents' language and let customers keep writing in theirs.
Example ruleWhere it belongs
Always answer in the customer's language.Global
Never give a resolution time.Global
Offer the knowledge base before creating a request.Global
Hardware replacement needs manager approval. Say so before raising the request.Service desk
Always ask which device is affected and whether the person can still work.Request type
Ask which environment the problem happens in, and for a screenshot.Request type
How to write good request type instructions in ten minutes
Open the last twenty tickets of one request type and read the first reply your agents sent. If it is nearly always “which environment?” or “can you send a screenshot?”, put that sentence in the instructions. The assistant will collect it before the ticket exists, and those two replies disappear from your queue.
Be careful what you promise
The assistant follows your instructions literally. Do not write anything that commits you to a timescale, a price or an outcome, because it will repeat it to customers.

Switch Enable Knowledge Base Search on for the desk. A Confluence Space Keys field then appears — it is hidden while the toggle is off, which is why people think it is missing. List the space keys the assistant may search, separated by commas. A space key is the short code in a space's URL, for example KB in /wiki/spaces/KB/.

Listing spaces one by one is deliberate. It keeps the answers relevant, and it keeps internal spaces out of customer conversations.

Check what is in a space before you add it
Only add spaces whose content is safe for the people using that portal. A space that mixes customer-facing articles with internal runbooks is not a good candidate. Split it first.

Customer permissions still apply on top of your list: the search runs as the signed-in customer, so they cannot be shown an article they could not open themselves.

Auto-confirm: leave it off

With Auto-confirm tickets off, the assistant shows a summary of the request and waits for the customer to agree. With it on, the request is created immediately.

Keep it off. The confirmation step is where customers notice a wrong request type and correct it, and correcting it there costs nothing. Only turn it on for a desk where every request is trivial and speed matters more than accuracy.

Something missing or wrong on this page? Tell us in the support portal or email contact@synapseoasis.com.