> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hiveku.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Give an Agent a Rule or a Skill > Tell one agent what it must always or never do, teach it your steps for a task, test both in a chat, and change or delete them later A **rule** is something an agent always does or never does, such as never offering a big discount without your OK. A **skill** is a set of steps it follows for one kind of task, such as the first steps with a new wholesale customer. Give them to one agent, and it works your way in every chat. This guide gives Northwind's sales agent a discount rule and a skill for wholesale inquiries, tests them in a chat, then deletes the rule and brings it back. ## Open the agent Click **Memory** in the left rail, then the agent's name under **Your AI team**. Its **Details** tab lists its **Rules** and **Skills**, each with a **New rule** or **New skill** button. ## Add a rule **1. Click New rule** Under **What should** the agent **always do, or never do?**, write the rule in one or two sentences. **2. Say why** Under **Why?**, say what the rule protects. It is optional, but it helps the agent apply the rule well, for example to see when a request is close to the line. **3. Check its name, then add it** **It will be listed as** shows the name the rule gets in the list, taken from its first sentence. **Rename** changes it. Then click **Add rule**. ![A new rule for the sales agent: Never offer a wholesale discount above 10% without Jamie's OK, and Why: Wholesale margins are thin, so Jamie approves anything bigger, outlined; below, It will be listed as with Rename, and the Add rule button outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1/images/how-tos/ai-team/rule-01-new-rule-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1\&q=85\&s=8d70abbcdd0f09f770d345708d6a9add) The rule only applies to this agent. For a rule every agent should follow, click **Add it to Shared with every agent** instead. The rule opens on its own page. **Edit** changes it, **History** shows each version, and **Ask** the agent **about it** opens your chat with the agent. ![The rule's page: Rule, followed only by the sales agent, the rule's name, followed in chats and not on phone calls, outlined; Edit, History and Ask about it; and the rule with its why, outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1/images/how-tos/ai-team/rule-02-the-rule-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1\&q=85\&s=2cef72dd76bbba075f15a132b1d20820) ## Add a skill Click **New skill**. Under **What should** the agent **do, step by step?**, write the steps in order, one on each line. Add a **Why?** if you like, give the skill a clear name with **Rename**, and click **Add skill**. ![A new skill for the sales agent: When a café, restaurant, hotel or office asks about wholesale, four numbered steps, and Why: Every wholesale lead should get the same first steps, outlined, with the Add skill button outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1/images/how-tos/ai-team/rule-03-new-skill-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1\&q=85\&s=f236a1bd8daf36d169acda7e22f0dfd9) ## Test them in a chat An agent uses a new rule or skill from its next conversation. Open **Chat with** and the agent's name, start a new chat with the **+** button, and ask something the rule covers. Here Northwind asked how to answer a hotel that wants 20% off. If the agent changes one of its rules or skills while you chat, a card above the chat says so, with **Open it** and **Undo this change**. ![The sales agent's answer to a hotel asking for 20% off, outlined: don't commit to 20% on the spot, any discount above 10% needs Jamie's approval, and first qualify their volume and delivery location](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1/images/how-tos/ai-team/rule-04-rule-in-action-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1\&q=85\&s=58708ac4867412a59026f9f76e3c9ce9) ## Change or delete a rule * **Change it**: open the rule and click **Edit**. * **Take back one change**: click **History**. Each change after the first has **Undo this change**, which takes back only that change and keeps later edits. * **Delete it**: click the trash can at the top of the rule, then **Delete**. ![Delete this rule? You can bring it back from Recently deleted, with Keep it, and the Delete button outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1/images/how-tos/ai-team/rule-05-delete-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1\&q=85\&s=3dc544d5155db649e496b55cf45f6a9f) To bring a deleted rule or skill back, open the agent, click **More** at the top right of Memory, then **Recently deleted**, and click **Bring it back** under it. ![The More menu open, with More and Recently deleted outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1/images/how-tos/ai-team/rule-06-recently-deleted-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1\&q=85\&s=c7857556d202594b324db463c059d340) ![Recently deleted: the discount rule, Deleted Oct 21, 2026, 11:09 AM by Jamie Holloway, with its text, outlined, and the Bring it back button, outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1/images/how-tos/ai-team/rule-07-bring-it-back-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=StyqSAvq4ZXe_M-1\&q=85\&s=0f3ece587f53a9018329f0825cef0d65) ## Good to know * **Chats, not calls.** An agent's own rules and skills are used in its chats, and the rule's page says whether phone calls use it. * **Who can change them.** Owners and admins, and teammates whose role lets them edit that agent. * **Facts go elsewhere.** Things every agent should know, such as your hours or your minimum order, belong in [About your business](/how-tos/ai-team/tell-your-ai-team-about-your-business). * **More:** [Ask Your Chief of Staff to Get Something Done](/how-tos/ai-team/ask-your-chief-of-staff). 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