Set topic boundaries and refusals for your AI Twin

Topic boundaries are hard rules your AI Twin will not cross. When a visitor asks about a forbidden topic, the twin refuses politely, explains why, and offers a graceful next step — usually a redirect to sales or a human handoff. Boundaries are essential for regulated industries and for keeping your twin off the record on sensitive commercial topics.

How boundaries differ from the system prompt

The system prompt shapes voice and formatting. Boundaries are enforced with a separate retrieval-time and generation-time check — they cannot be jailbroken by a cleverly worded visitor question, and they log every refusal for audit.

Add a boundary rule

1. Open Twin → Personality → Boundaries.
2. Click Add rule and describe the topic in plain English ("Do not compare us to competitor X").
3. Optionally list example phrasings that should trip the rule.
4. Pick the refusal style: polite decline, redirect to sales, route to human, or custom response text.
5. Save. The rule is active within seconds.

Common boundary patterns

• Legal, medical or financial advice — decline with a disclaimer and encourage a qualified professional.
• Pricing quotes above a threshold — redirect to sales for a tailored quote.
• Roadmap questions — offer a waitlist signup instead of a date.
• Competitor comparisons — decline politely and redirect to your own comparison pages.
• Confidential customer stories — refuse and offer public case studies instead.
• Employment / hiring questions — redirect to /careers.

Regulated industry starter kit

For finance, health, legal and regulated commerce, we recommend these baseline rules:

• No personalised advice — always general information plus a call to consult a professional.
• No forward-looking statements about performance or outcomes.
• No PII collection beyond email and company name.
• Automatic human handoff for any explicit request for a decision.

Refusal styles

Polite decline

A short, friendly explanation. Good for questions that are simply off-topic.

Redirect to sales

Refuses to answer directly and asks for the visitor's work email to route to sales.

Route to human

Immediately opens the human handoff flow — see Configure human handoff.

Custom response

Write the exact refusal text yourself. Useful for legally reviewed language.

Audit and review

Every boundary refusal is logged under Conversations with a Refusal tag. Filter by tag to review — you'll spot both real bad-actor probes and legitimate questions your rules are being too aggressive about.

Common mistakes

• Writing overly broad rules that catch legitimate questions.
• Forgetting to test the rule — always ask the twin a boundary-adjacent question after saving.
• Relying on the system prompt for compliance — use boundaries instead, which are enforced separately.

Frequently asked questions

Can visitors override a boundary by rephrasing?

No. Boundaries are checked at both retrieval and generation, so rewording the question does not bypass them.

How many boundary rules can I add?

Unlimited on all paid plans. Practically, most workspaces run 5–15 rules.

Do boundaries apply to Twin-to-Twin exchanges?

Yes — see Control what your twin discloses. Boundaries are enforced in every context.