> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.thedrive.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Memory and Instructions

> Teach the agent how you and your workspace work: notes it remembers for you or for everyone, a persona, and standing workspace rules

## Overview

You can shape how the [agent](/agent/overview) works in two ways:

* **What the agent remembers.** Short notes it starts every request with, such as how your workspace files invoices or how you like replies. Some are yours alone; some apply to everyone in the workspace.
* **How it behaves.** A persona and a set of workspace rules that an owner or admin writes once for the whole workspace.

Both live in **Settings** > **Agent**.

## What the agent remembers

The agent keeps short notes about **procedures and preferences**, not the contents of your documents. For example:

* "Invoices are filed under Finance/Vendor/Year. Never rename a signed contract."
* "Keep replies short. Ask before moving anything out of my Inbox folder."

Every new request in the workspace starts with these notes. A note you add or change applies from your next request.

### Yours and the workspace's

| Notes | Who they apply to | Who can see them | Who can add, change or delete them |
| - | - | - | - |
| **Yours** | Only your requests | Only you | You |
| **Workspace** | Everyone's requests in the workspace | Everyone who can open **Settings** > **Agent** | Owners and admins |

Notes belong to one workspace. Your notes in one workspace don't follow you into another.

### Ask the agent to remember

Tell the agent in a conversation:

```text theme={null}
Remember that I want dates in file names as YYYY-MM-DD.
```

```text theme={null}
Remember that client folders live under /Clients/<Client>/<Matter>.
```

The agent saves a note for you. It may also write one on its own when it notices a way of working you repeat.

**For the whole workspace.** If you're an owner or admin, ask the agent to remember something "for the whole workspace". It shows a card titled, for example, "Remember "invoice-filing" for the whole workspace", with the note and a warning that "Every member's assistant will follow this from their next conversation on." Click **Allow** to save it. Members can't save workspace notes. Ask an owner or admin to add one.

To remove a note, ask: "Forget the note about invoice filing."

Asking the agent to remember or forget something doesn't count as a [task](/agent/overview#tasks-and-limits).

### See and edit notes

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the notes">
    Open **Settings** > **Agent** and expand **What the agent remembers**. Notes are listed under **Workspace** and **Yours**. Each shows its name, its first lines and when it was written.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit a note">
    Click a note to open it. Change the text and click **Save**, or **Cancel**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Delete a note">
    Click the trash icon next to the note and confirm. The agent no longer starts with it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You can open workspace notes to read them even if you can't change them.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/thedriveai/YatMpyH-kbr3S5Ie/images/settings-agent-memory.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=YatMpyH-kbr3S5Ie&q=85&s=f640765141c1a0bb077bccd75034ba60" alt="What the agent remembers expanded, with workspace notes and your own notes" width="2112" height="1594" data-path="images/settings-agent-memory.png" />
</Frame>

### Add a note yourself

<Steps>
  <Step title="Start a note">
    In **What the agent remembers**, click **Add a note** under **Yours**, or under **Workspace** if you're an owner or admin.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name it and write it">
    Give the note a short name, such as `invoice-filing`. Names use lowercase letters, numbers and dashes; anything else is turned into a dash, and the box shows what it will be saved as. Then write the note in plain text or Markdown.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Remember**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Each note can be up to 4,000 characters. A note with the same name as an existing one replaces it.

<Tip>
  Keep notes about how to do things, not about what's in your files. Facts from documents go out of date, and the agent can always look them up.
</Tip>

## How it behaves

Owners and admins can give the agent a persona and standing rules for the whole workspace. Open **Settings** > **Agent** and expand **How it behaves**. Members don't see this section.

| Field | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Persona** | Replaces the agent's default persona. Leave it blank to keep the default. For example: "You are the file assistant for Acme Legal. Be brief and formal." |
| **Workspace rules** | Added to the agent's standing instructions: filing conventions, naming rules, what never to touch. For example: `Client files live under /Clients/<Client>/<Matter>. Never move anything out of /Archive.` |

Write either in plain text or Markdown. Then click **Save changes** at the bottom of the tab, or **Discard** to undo your edits. The collapsed section shows, for example, "custom persona · 3 lines of workspace rules".

Both apply to every member's requests in the workspace.

### Memory or workspace rules?

Both reach every request. Use whichever fits:

* **Workspace rules** are one place for the standing policy an admin owns, edited only in Settings.
* **Workspace notes** are separate, named notes. The agent can propose them in a conversation, and an admin approves each one.

## Tips

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Be specific" icon="bullseye">
    "File invoices under Finance/Vendor/Year" works better than "keep invoices organized".
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Say what never to touch" icon="lock">
    Rules like "Never move anything out of /Archive" or "Never rename a signed contract" stop changes you'd otherwise have to decline. The agent still shows every change it makes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Correct a note instead of repeating yourself" icon="pen">
    If the agent keeps doing something you don't want, check **What the agent remembers** for a note that says otherwise, and edit it.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## What's next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Agent settings" icon="sliders" href="/agent/settings">
    Every setting for the agent in one place.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Conversations" icon="comments" href="/agent/conversations">
    Tabs, history, alerts and attachments.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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