Customizing the welcome message and starter prompts

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When users open an agent chat, the system displays a welcome message and clickable starter prompts. These elements introduce the agent and help users begin a meaningful interaction.

By default, the welcome message and starter prompts are generic and predefined. However, you can customize them to better reflect your brand identity and specific use case.

Why it matters

The welcome message and starter prompts shape the initial user experience. The welcome message establishes the tone, while starter prompts demonstrate how users can interact with the agent. Together, they help users understand what the agent can do and how to get started quickly.

Benefits of customization

Customizing this content can ensure you:

  • Align with your organization’s voice, such as Welcome to Acme Support or Hi, I’m your HR assistant.

  • Match your specific use case, such as displaying prompts like Book a doctor’s appointment instead of Summarize meeting notes.

  • Help users start quickly with useful and appropriate questions.

What you can customize

After you create an agent or when you edit an agent, you can update the following content:

  • Welcome message: A short greeting is displayed at the top of the chat, such as Welcome to Acme HR Assistant.

  • Starter prompts: Up to three prompts that are shown as clickable buttons under the welcome message.

If you do not customize the welcome message, the system shows the default welcome message.

Note: You can customize the welcome message description (the subtitle under it) using the Agent Development Kit (ADK). For more information, see Welcome message description in the developer documentation.

Example use cases

Examples of custom welcome messages and starter prompts that are tailored to different agent roles.

Scenario

Custom welcome message

Custom starter prompts

HR assistant

Welcome to the virtual HR agent

Show me my benefits, Log sick leave, View holidays

Hospital intake

Welcome to Mercy Clinic Assistant

Book an appointment, Find a doctor, View lab results

Sales assistant

Hi, I’m your sales automation bot

Create follow-up email, Summarize lead notes, Log a call

How to customize

To customize the welcome message and starter prompts, do the following steps:

  1. From the main menu, go to Build.

  2. On the Build agents and tools page, click Create agent.

  3. Enter the agent name and description. Review Recommendations for agent descriptions first. Ensure that your agent performs as expected.

  4. Click Create agent.

  5. In the Welcome message field, enter a custom greeting. You can enter a maximum of 100 characters.

  6. In the Quick start prompts, edit the prompts to guide the first interaction. To add more prompts, click Add prompt +.

Note:

You can add up to 12 starter prompts. Each prompt supports up to 1,000 characters. The interface shows up to 80 characters initially and up to 200 characters when expanded. The full text is stored and used.

After the agent is configured and deployed, these messages automatically appear when the user opens it.

Multi-language support

You create welcome messages and starter prompts only in English. The system automatically translates them into the languages that users select. This eliminates the need to create and maintain separate versions for each language.

Supported languages

The system automatically translates your content to the following languages when users select them:

  • English

  • French

  • German

  • Italian

  • Japanese

  • Portuguese

  • Spanish

Users can select only the languages that admin enables in Platform languages settings.

How automatic translation works

  • You write welcome messages and starter prompts in English.

  • The system stores your English content as the source.

  • When users select a different language, the system translates your content dynamically.

  • Translations preserve the meaning, context, and formatting of your original content.