The most useful instructions capture decisions that might otherwise live in your head, your design system, or your team's habits. They're specific to your site, and they tell the agent when the guidance applies, what choice to make, and which details matter.

Choose what to document

You do not need to document everything at once. Start with one standard, workflow, or decision you want the agent to handle more consistently.

On a new site, that might be a rule or workflow you want in place from the start. On an existing site, begin with something that causes repeated corrections, risk, inconsistency, or team confusion.

For example, your Blog Posts collection might include an Excerpt field for cards and search results, a Post Body field for the full article, and an SEO Description field for search engines. If those fields are often confused, create a focused skill that explains what belongs in each one and when to use it.

Tip: You can also ask an MCP-connected agent to inspect your site or existing documentation and help you draft a starting point. Then review it against how your team actually works.

Make the guidance specific

A useful instruction tells the agent when the guidance applies, what decision to make, and the details it needs to make that decision correctly.

For example, "Use our design system when building" names the goal but leaves the important choices open.

A more useful skill might say:

When you add a three-column feature section, use the Feature Card component. Use the Default variant for supporting features and the Highlighted variant for the primary feature. Set the CTA to Button/Primary.

Now the agent knows when the skill applies, which component to use, and how to configure it.

The same pattern works for rules. "Write in a professional and friendly tone" leaves the agent to decide what that means.

A more useful rule might say:

Write directly to the reader using "you" and "your." Use active voice and familiar language. Sound knowledgeable, not formal. Prefer "use" over "leverage" and "complete" over "execute."

Depending on the instruction, the details might include a component, class, variable, or field name, a condition or exception, or a short example.

Tip: Keep each instruction focused. One specific, well-scoped instruction is more useful than several broad instructions that overlap.

Use references where they help

When an instruction mentions a resource by name, the agent still has to identify the right match. A reference connects the instruction directly to the resource on your site.

Instead of writing "use the primary button component," you can reference the actual component. Or instead of "use Instrument Sans for the body font," you can reference the body font variable. That gives the agent clearer context.

References can also make instructions easier to maintain. Because the instruction points to the resource itself, the agent can use the connected resource instead of relying only on a written name or description.

Tip: You do not need to reference everything. Use references when the exact Webflow resource matters.

Enable the instruction when ready

New instructions are saved as drafts by default. They appear in the Instructions panel, marked in orange, but your agent won't use them until you toggle them on.

That gives you time to review and refine the instruction before testing it in a session. You can also turn it on temporarily, test the result, and switch it back off if it needs more work.

Test the result

Try the instruction on a task where it should make a visible difference. For a CMS skill, give the agent the content for a new blog post and ask it to place each piece in the right field. For an accessibility rule, give it one meaningful image and one decorative image and ask it to handle the alt text for each.

Then check the decisions it made:

• Did it put the right content in each CMS field?
• Did it write descriptive alt text for the meaningful image and leave the decorative image empty?
• Did it follow the conditions described in the instruction?

If not, look for what the instruction may have left unclear. You might define the situation more precisely, add an exception, point to a resource, or include an example. Even with solid guidance, an agent may not produce the same result every time.

Keep instructions current

Treat your instructions like the rest of your site documentation. Revisit them when you rename a component, change a CMS field, update a brand standard, or adjust a workflow.

If the agent makes a choice you thought you had already addressed, check whether the instruction still matches how your site works now.

Ready for more?

Click Complete & continue to learn how to share your instructions across multiple sites using Shared Libraries.