Customizing system prompts for better AI responses
Learn how to write effective system prompts and adjust advanced AI settings to personalize your email responses.
Updated 3 days ago
What is a System Prompt?
A system prompt is a set of instructions that tells the AI how to behave when generating email responses. Think of it as the AI's "personality guide" - it defines the tone, style, and approach the AI should use when writing emails on your behalf.
By customizing your system prompt, you can make the AI sound more professional, casual, friendly, or match your specific business needs. For example, if you run a luxury brand, you might want formal and sophisticated responses. If you run a casual startup, you might prefer friendly and conversational replies.
How to Customize Your System Prompt
To customize your system prompt, go to Dashboard → Settings → AI Settings, then select your AI model to edit its settings.
Be Clear and Specific
Tell the AI exactly what you want. Instead of "be professional," say "write formal, courteous email responses that maintain a professional tone while being warm and helpful." Include specific guidelines like "Always thank customers for their inquiry" or "Keep responses under 200 words."
Define Your Brand Voice
Describe how your business communicates. Are you formal or casual? Friendly or strictly professional? Do you use technical jargon or plain language? Provide context about your business: "You work for a sustainable fashion e-commerce store" or "You're a customer service representative for a B2B software company."
Pro Tip: Not sure how to write a good system prompt? Open a new ChatGPT conversation and ask it to create a system prompt for you. Describe your business, your tone, and what you want the AI to do. Then copy the generated prompt and paste it into Eskra. ChatGPT is excellent at writing prompts for other AIs!
Try It Yourself
Experiment with different settings below to see how they affect AI behavior. This interactive sandbox lets you test configurations before applying them to your account.
GPT-4o Mini Settings
Try it out! Play with these settings to see how they work. When you're ready to apply them to your account, go to Dashboard → Settings → AI Settings.
Understanding Advanced Settings
Beyond the system prompt, Eskra offers several advanced settings to fine-tune AI behavior:
Temperature (0.0 - 1.0)
Controls creativity vs consistency. Lower values (0.2-0.3) make responses more predictable and focused. Higher values (0.7-0.9) make responses more creative. We recommend 0.3 for most business use.
Max Tokens
Determines the maximum length of AI responses. If you write long, detailed emails, increase this value. One token is roughly 4 characters. Recommended: 384 for short emails, 512-768 for longer responses.
Top P (0.0 - 1.0)
Controls response diversity. Values closer to 1.0 (like 0.95) give the AI more word choices, making responses more varied. We recommend keeping this at 0.95 for natural-sounding emails.
Presence Penalty (0.0 - 2.0)
Reduces repetition in responses. A value of 0.2-0.4 prevents repetition while keeping responses natural. Too high can make responses feel disjointed.