Use case · Instructions

# I paste the same rules into every session. *Write them once, and your agents follow them.*

Write your custom instructions one time in Settings, 4,096 characters at most. They set how your connected agents answer on every machine, and your message in the turn still wins.

[Get started free](https://console.context-mode.com/login) [Read the docs](https://context-mode.com/docs/instructions#where)

Pick a moment

Every session Write once Every machine Your message wins Too long

A new session. The agent forgot your rules again.

```
// new session, again
You: Keep answers short. No wall of text.
You: Never touch code or technical terms.
You: Now fix the failing test.
```

Without a standing rule, you paste the same lines at the start of each session.

Write the rules one time, in Settings.

```
// Settings → Instructions · 4,096 characters at most
Keep answers short. No wall of text.
Never touch code or technical terms.
```

Click Save. Every new conversation carries the text from now on.

Same rules on the work laptop and the home laptop.

Without Instructions

- Paste the rules in each session
- Copy a rules file into each repo
- Each machine set up by hand

With Instructions

- One text on your account
- Claude Code and Codex
- Every machine, no file to copy

Connect each machine once with npx @context-mode/cli.

You want detail for one turn only.

```
Instructions: Keep answers short.
Your message: Explain each change in detail.
The agent:   explains each change in detail.
```

Instructions are a standing rule. What you ask in the turn wins.

You paste a very long rule set.

```
// Settings → Instructions
Over 4,096 characters: refused, not cut.
```

Nothing is cut in silence. Make the text shorter and save again.

The problem

## Each new session starts blank. *You type the same rules again.*

**Paste, every time**

"Keep answers short." "Never touch code or technical terms." You type it at the start of each session.

**A file per repo**

A rules file in one repo does not reach the next repo. You copy it, and each change means a new copy.

**A file per machine**

Rules in your home folder stay on that laptop. A second machine starts with none.

How it works

## One text on your account. *Every request carries it.*

1. 01 **Write your rules** Open Settings in the console, find the Instructions card, type your rules and click Save.
2. 02 **Every request carries them** Context Mode adds the text at the start of the conversation. Your client's files and system prompt do not change.
3. 03 **Your message still wins** Ask for detail in one turn, and you get detail. Clear the box and save to turn the rules off.

**Your agents**

- Work laptop
- Home laptop
- Any repo

→

**Context Mode · Instructions**

- Your rules, saved once
- Added at the start of each new conversation
- Read from the cache
- Your message wins

→

**The model**On your own account.

Your rules live in Context Mode, not in a file on each laptop or in each repo.

Proof

## Room for real rules. *Almost no cost per turn.*

**4,096** characters at most; a longer text is refused, not cut **756** characters in the default rules, well under the limit **Cache price** after the first request, not new input on every turn

|  | Instructions | Paste or rules files |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Where the rules live | One text on your account | Each session, repo or laptop |
| Agents | Claude Code and Codex | One agent per file |
| New machine | Ready once connected | Set up home-folder files again |

Instructions change how the agent writes, not what it does. To stop an action, use [Protect](https://context-mode.com/use-cases/protect-main-branch). Sessions that go direct to the provider do not get Instructions. [How it is applied →](https://context-mode.com/docs/instructions#how)

Products used

## Set it up with *Instructions.*

**[Instructions](https://context-mode.com/instructions)**

Rules you write once. Every request from your connected agents carries them.

**[Instructions docs](https://context-mode.com/docs/instructions)**

Where to set them, the default text, how they are applied, and what they cost.

**[Memory](https://context-mode.com/docs/memory)**

Facts learned from your sessions. Instructions are the rules you write yourself.

**Related**

[Team standards](https://context-mode.com/solutions/team-standards) · [Share skills](https://context-mode.com/use-cases/share-skills) · [Onboard a new engineer](https://context-mode.com/use-cases/onboard-new-engineer) · [Protect main branch](https://context-mode.com/use-cases/protect-main-branch)

## Stop pasting your rules. *Write them once.*

*npx @context-mode/cli* connects your agents. Start free: 1,000 requests, every feature, no card.

[Get started free →](https://console.context-mode.com/login) [Read the docs →](https://context-mode.com/docs/instructions)