# Instructions, notes, skills, memory and rules: which to use

EkLine has several places to tell its agents about your company and how to work, and a few settings with similar names that do different jobs.

A change to a setting the agents read applies to sessions started after you save it. A session that is already open keeps what it started with.

## Every setting at a glance

| Setting | Where it lives | What it is for | Who reads it | Use it when |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Custom instructions](/agent/custom-instructions/) (Docs Agent) | **Settings** > **Docs Agent** > **Custom instructions** | How to write docs: spelling, terms, structure, audience. Up to 20,000 characters. | Docs Agent only | Every docs session should follow a convention. |
| [Custom instructions](/agent/custom-instructions/) (Marketing Agent) | **Settings** > **Marketing Agent** > **Custom instructions** | How to write posts: voice, person, how posts open and close. Up to 20,000 characters. | Marketing Agent only | A convention is for posts, not docs. |
| [Company Profile](/agent/company-profile/) | **Settings** > **Organization** > **Company Profile** | Facts about your company: product, brand names, documentation sites, audiences, personas, competitors, tone and voice. | Marketing Agent always. Docs Agent when company context is on for your organization. | Both agents should know who you are and who you write for. |
| Visual Style Guidelines | The **Visual Style Guidelines** field in **Company Profile** | Colors and style notes for the images the agents draw. | Both agents, when they create an image (the Docs Agent only when it reads Company Profile) | Images should match your brand. |
| [Reference documents](/agent/reference-documents/) | **Settings** > **Integrations** > **Knowledge Base** | Files the agents read for facts, such as briefs and glossaries. Up to 3 MB each. | Both agents, when reference documents are on for your organization | The facts are in a document, not in your code. |
| [Repository notes](/agent/reference-documents/) | **Settings** > **Integrations** > **GitHub Integration** or **GitLab Integration**, on each saved repository | What one repository is, read as a description, not an instruction. Up to 5,000 characters. | Both agents | An agent needs to know what a repository holds. |
| [Skills](/agent/custom-skills/) | **Settings** > **Docs Agent** > **Skills** | A workflow you run with its slash command, or that the agent uses when a task matches. | Both agents, though the settings page names only the Docs Agent | You repeat the same multi-step task. |
| Rules | **Settings** > **Docs Agent** > **Rules** | Standing rules, each **General** (always in force) or **Review** (applied before a docs pull request is opened or updated), optionally for some files only. | Both agents, though the settings page names only the Docs Agent | A requirement must always hold. |
| Organization memory | Nowhere in the app | Notes the agents keep for themselves while they work, shared by every session in your organization. No page shows it. | Both agents | You do not set it. For a standing rule, use custom instructions or Rules. |
| Reviewer Rules | **Settings** > **Docs Agent** > **Reviewer Rules** | Turns the Docs Reviewer's built-in style checks on or off. | The [Docs Reviewer](/reviewer/overview/). The agents don't read it. | You want the Docs Reviewer to check more or less. |
| Terminology | **Settings** > **Organization** > **Terminology** | Terms to avoid, each with the term to use instead. | The [Docs Reviewer](/reviewer/overview/). The agents don't read it. | Reviews should flag a term. |
| Dictionary | **Settings** > **Organization** > **Dictionary** | Words the Docs Reviewer's spell check accepts. | The [Docs Reviewer](/reviewer/configuration/dictionary/). The agents don't read it. | Reviews flag your product names as misspelled. |
| [Automations](/agent/scheduled-agents/) | **Automations** in the sidebar | A prompt and a schedule. Each run starts a Docs Agent session with that agent's usual context. It is not context itself. | Starts Docs Agent sessions only | A task should run on a schedule. |
| [Review rules](/agent/review-rules/) | **Settings** > **Integrations** > **GitHub Integration** or **GitLab Integration**, the **Review rules** icon on a repository | Which pull requests automatic PR review looks at, by branch, author, title, label or file. | Automatic PR review | EkLine should skip some pull requests. |

If a tab is missing from your settings, or you want company context or reference documents on, contact support@ekline.io.

### Three settings called rules

- **Rules** tell the agents what to do. A rule of type **Review** applies before a docs pull request is opened or updated.
- **Review rules** choose which pull requests [automatic PR review](/agent/automatic-pr-review/) looks at.
- **Reviewer Rules** turn the Docs Reviewer's style checks on and off. The agents don't read them.

## Examples

**Acme wants every docs draft to say "sign in", never "log in".** Add the instruction to the Docs Agent's custom instructions. To have the Docs Reviewer flag "log in" in pull requests too, add it to **Terminology**.

**Acme wants both agents to know that its main competitor is Hooli.** Add Hooli under **Competitors** in Company Profile.

**Every pull request to Acme's documentation that touches the API reference must update the changelog.** Add a rule of type **Review**, with `docs/api/**` in **Applies to (optional)**. When the agent can't meet a rule, it says so in the pull request body.

**Acme drafts release notes the same way for every version.** Write the steps once as a skill named `Release notes checklist`, and run it by typing `/release-notes-checklist`.

## FAQ

### Where do I see the contents of a skill?

In **Settings** > **Docs Agent** > **Skills**. The list shows each skill's name, command and **When to use it** text. Click a skill's edit icon to see its instructions. The editor has no list of skills.

### Do Rules and Skills apply to the Marketing Agent?

Yes. Both agents use them in every new session, even though their settings pages name only the Docs Agent. A rule of type **Review** comes into play when an agent opens or updates a docs pull request.

### Do the agents use my Terminology list and Dictionary?

No. Both configure the Docs Reviewer. To make an agent use or avoid a term, put it in that agent's custom instructions or in a rule.