Custom instructions
Custom instructions are the system prompt Loach attaches to your messages. You can write them at three scopes and the narrower scope always wins, so you can set defaults once and tighten them where it matters.
Where to set them
- Global — Settings → General. Applies to every new chat.
- Per-Space — each Space has its own Instructions field. Overrides the global instructions for chats inside the Space.
- Per-chat — the system prompt textarea in the chat’s Parameters panel. Overrides both of the above.
Precedence
Custom instructions cascade from broadest to narrowest:
global → per-Space → per-chat
The narrower scope always wins. A per-chat instruction overrides the Space it belongs to, and a Space’s instructions override the global ones — so you can set sensible defaults once at the global level, then tighten them for individual Spaces or chats as needed.
Template variables
Any prompt authored by you — global instructions, Space instructions, Snippet bodies, per-chat system prompts — can use these placeholders. They are substituted at send time.
- {{USER_NAME}} — the display name from Settings → General.
- {{CURRENT_DATE}} —
YYYY-MM-DD. - {{CURRENT_TIME}} —
HH:MM, 24-hour local time. - {{CURRENT_WEEKDAY}} —
Monday,Tuesday, … - {{CURRENT_DATETIME}} —
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM. - {{CURRENT_TIMEZONE}} — an IANA zone such as
Europe/Warsaw, with a UTC offset fallback on very old WebViews.
See also Temporal awareness, which automatically prepends a short date/time preamble when your prompt does not already use the {{CURRENT_*}} placeholders.
Examples
- “Always reply in Polish unless I write to you in English.”
- “You are a senior product manager. Push back on vague requirements and ask clarifying questions before answering.”
- “When writing code, prefer Python 3.12 with type hints and f-strings. Skip explanatory comments unless asked.”
- “Cite a source for every factual claim. If you cannot verify something, say so explicitly.”
- “My name is {{USER_NAME}}. Today is {{CURRENT_WEEKDAY}} {{CURRENT_DATE}}. Use that when reasoning about deadlines.”