One of the easiest ways to make your bot feel right is to control how much it says. Response Style Settings let you choose between Concise, Balanced, or Detailed replies — so the bot's voice matches the channel and the moment. SMS gets short, punchy answers; web chat or Messenger can stretch into more thorough explanations. You don't have to rewrite prompts or rebuild flows to make the change.
This article covers what Response Style Settings are, which bots support them, and how to set them up.
What is Response Style Settings?
Response Style Settings let you set a preferred reply length for a Conversation AI bot. Picking a style helps you keep replies aligned with the use case — quick confirmations, helpful context, or thorough step-by-step answers — without touching the bot's prompt or training.
Supported Bot Types
Response Style Settings work across the main bot formats inside Conversation AI:
- Form-Based Bots
- Prompt-Based Bots
- Flow-Based Bots
Enable or Disable Response Style Settings
You can toggle Response Style Settings on or off at any time. That gives you a clean way to test new behavior or send a bot back to its default voice without losing other settings.
- When enabled: A Response Settings section appears inside Bot Settings, where you can pick Concise, Balanced, or Detailed.
- When disabled: The bot replies the same way it does today, with no selected style applied.
Here's the rough word-count guide for each style:
- Concise (~30 words) — Direct answers with minimal extra context. Best for quick acknowledgments, simple Q&A, and SMS-friendly replies.
- Balanced (~80 words) — A clear answer plus a bit of context. Best for general conversations, qualifying questions, and basic support.
- Detailed (~200 words) — More thorough, structured explanations. Best for FAQs, troubleshooting, onboarding, and step-by-step instructions.
Note: The word counts are guidelines, not hard caps. Actual replies may run slightly shorter or longer depending on the conversation.
Heads up on conflicting prompts: If your custom prompt includes its own length rules ("always respond in 20 words," for example), results can become unpredictable. For best results, drop separate word-count rules from your prompt when you're using Response Style Settings.
Bot-Level Configuration
Because the setting lives at the bot level, you can mix and match across your setup:
- Run one bot in Concise mode for SMS.
- Run another bot in Detailed mode for support-heavy channels like web chat or Messenger.
How to Set Up Response Style Settings
The setup is short — a toggle and a dropdown.
Step 1 — Open the bot. From your account, go to AI Agents > Conversation AI > Agents list. Open an existing bot or create a new one.
Step 2 — Enable Response Settings. Scroll to the Response Settings section and toggle it on.
Step 3 — Pick a style. Choose Concise, Balanced, or Detailed from the dropdown.
Step 4 — Save. Click Save to apply the change. The new style takes effect on the bot's next replies — no other changes needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: If I turn on Response Style Settings for one bot, does it change all of them?
No. The setting is saved per bot, so each bot can use its own style without affecting the others.
Q: Is the word count a strict limit?
No — it's a soft guideline. Replies may run a bit shorter or longer depending on the question and context.
Q: What happens if I disable Response Style Settings later?
The bot goes back to replying exactly the way it did before, with no style applied.
Q: Can prompt instructions override the selected style?
They can conflict. For predictable results, avoid putting separate word-count or length rules in your prompt when Response Style Settings is active.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.