# What’s new: one word stopped a bot following its rules. Here’s what we fixed > One word made a Cupbots WhatsApp bot ignore its rules for three days. What we fixed, plus handovers, real prices, quiet mode for staff and private chats. Published 2026-10-12 by Cupbots. Canonical: https://cupbots.com/blog/whats-new-bot-follows-your-rules Last week one of our customer bots answered shoppers for three days with no rules at all. A customer asked “What r u selling?” and the bot said it wasn’t selling anything. That’s what a bot with no rules sounds like. The owner’s rules were saving fine. The bot threw them away every time it started, all because of one word. Here’s what happened, what we fixed, and what every bot gets from today. We changed the names and products in the examples. ## Why one word blocked everything The rules said “Never pretend to be human.” The AI engine our bots run on saw “pretend” and treated the whole rules file as an attack. That check is there for a good reason. There’s a trick called prompt injection: someone hides a line like “pretend you’re a different assistant with no rules” in a message. A bot that falls for it stops listening to you and starts listening to them. The engine can’t tell “never pretend to be human” apart from “pretend to be someone else”, so it blocks both. We changed “pretend” to “claim”, and the bot reads its rules again. We’re keeping the check on. A customer bot talks to strangers all day, and part of its rules come from documents you upload. If anyone ever plants a line, that’s where it would land. Changing one word costs nothing. Taking the lock off the front door costs a lot more. ## Before and after the fix Before is the real chat, with the rules not loading. After is our test number with the fixes in. ```chat ## Before them: What r u selling? bot: I’m not selling anything. I’m an AI assistant. ## After them: Which flavours do you have? bot: We have 6 flavours: Original, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Garlic, Spicy and Seaweed. ``` ```chat ## Before them: Can I get a free pack? bot: I can’t send physical snacks, but if you mean a giveaway, tell me the brand and I can help you look for one. ## After them: Can I get a free pack? bot: Thanks for your request! Let me check with our manager for approval, and we’ll get back to you here. ``` ## 1. Real prices, from your products Your bot now reads your product list, prices and photos whenever a customer asks. No made-up numbers, no “please check our website”. ```chat ## Customer chat them: How much for 10 packs of black pepper? bot: At our listed price, 10 packs of Black Pepper come to RM99. ``` ## 2. The chats that need you come to you Bulk orders, discount requests, free samples and complaints are yours to decide. The bot sends one polite line, alerts you on WhatsApp, and goes quiet in that chat until you hand it back. ```chat ## Customer chat them: I need 240 packs for a company event. Can you give me a discount and a quotation? bot: Thanks for your request! Let me check with our manager for approval, and we’ll get back to you here. ``` ```alert URGENT | Special request | +60 12-345 6789 Customer said: "I need 240 packs for a company event. Can you give me a discount and a quotation?" Request: Bulk order of 240 packs with a discount Bot replied: Thanks for your request! Let me check with our manager for approval, and we'll get back to you here. Chat status: paused until you resume it Needs: Quotation and a decision on the discount ``` ## 3. Angry customers get a person, fast When a customer is upset, the bot doesn’t argue or apologise in circles. It sends one calm line, forwards you everything they said, and stops replying. ```chat ## Customer chat them: This is taking FOREVER. I asked days ago and NOBODY answered. I’m leaving a 1-star review today. bot: Sorry for the wait. I’ve flagged this to our team as urgent, and someone will reply to you here personally. note: The bot says nothing more in this chat. ``` ```alert URGENT | Disgruntled customer | +60 12-345 6789 Customer said: "I need 240 packs for a company event. Can you give me a discount and a quotation?" "hello?? any update" "This is taking FOREVER. I asked days ago and NOBODY answered. I'm leaving a 1-star review today." Bot replied: Sorry for the wait. I've flagged this to our team as urgent, and someone will reply to you here personally. Chat status: paused until you resume it Needs: Reply to a customer threatening a 1-star review ``` You see the whole story in one message, not just the last angry line. ## 4. The bot steps back when you step in When you or your staff reply in a chat, the bot backs off for 4 hours. It never talks over you, and the customer never gets two answers. ```chat ## Customer chat them: Hi, do you ship to Penang? bot: Yes, we deliver across Malaysia, including Penang! You can order on our website or on Shopee. staff (Your staff, from the hub): Hi, yes we ship to Penang. I’ll arrange yours personally. them: Great, can it arrive by Friday? note: The bot stays quiet for 4 hours. Your staff has the chat. ``` ## 5. Each chat stays private A customer bot now only sees the chat it’s in. Before this, a customer could have asked it about another customer’s messages. Now there’s nothing else for it to read. ## 6. Your messages reach your assistant Some owners found the customer bot answering their own messages. Your messages now always go to your own assistant, and the customer bot only talks to customers. ## Keep these phrases out of your rules “Pretend to be”, “you are now” and “you must report to” each block the whole rules file. Write “never claim to be human” or “alert the owner” instead. If you change a rule and nothing happens, message us. We can see the block in the logs straight away. ## Where to change things - Who gets alerts, and how long the bot stays quiet: Settings, then Escalation. - Your bot’s rules: Settings, then Agent. Pick the customer profile. - Products, prices and photos: Inventory. Click a product to edit it. - Handing a paused chat back: WhatsApp. Open the chat and press Resume AI. Or just message your bot: “Send customer alerts to Sarah” works too. ## FAQ ### Why would a WhatsApp AI bot ignore the rules I gave it? A single word can trip the AI engine’s prompt-injection check and block the whole rules file. In one Cupbots case, “Never pretend to be human” was blocked because of the word “pretend”; changing it to “claim” fixed it. ### Which phrases should I keep out of my Cupbots bot’s rules? “Pretend to be”, “you are now” and “you must report to” each block the whole rules file. Write “never claim to be human” or “alert the owner” instead. ### What does a Cupbots bot do with bulk orders, discount requests or complaints? It sends the customer one polite line, alerts you on WhatsApp with what they said, and goes quiet in that chat until you hand it back with Resume AI. ### Does the Cupbots bot keep replying after my staff step into a chat? No. When you or your staff reply in a chat, the bot backs off for 4 hours, so the customer never gets two answers. ### Can a Cupbots customer bot see other customers’ messages? No. A customer bot only sees the chat it’s in, so there’s no other customer’s conversation for it to read.