# ChatGPT Dots custom rules: what your dot can do without asking

Your dot reads and drafts freely and asks before it sends, buys or deletes. Add a custom rule in Settings to change that, with one of four behaviors.

*From How to Use Dots, an independent guide (not affiliated with OpenAI). Web version: https://howtousedots.com/custom-rules Last verified: 2026-10-06.*

*Step 6 of 10 on the path "Learn Dots, step by step". Before it: [Connect apps](https://howtousedots.com/apps.md). After it: [Cloud computer](https://howtousedots.com/cloud-computer.md).*

Out of the box, your dot reads and drafts without asking, asks before it sends, buys or deletes, and hands a few steps back to you. A custom rule changes that for one kind of action: you describe the action and pick one of four behaviors.

**In short**

- An approval request is an ordinary message in the conversation. You answer by typing.
- A rule is one sentence and one behavior: **Take action without asking**, **Take action when you say so**, **Ask before taking action** or **Hand off to you**.
- Rules live in **Settings**, under **Personalization**. You can also ask your dot to write one.
- A rule can't connect an app, and it can't switch off the built-in safety requirements.

## What your dot does before you add a rule

Start with the defaults, because a rule only changes one of them. With no rules, every action lands in one of three groups.

| Your dot | For actions like |
|---|---|
| Does it | Reading, searching, analyzing, writing a draft, in the apps you've connected |
| Asks you first | Sending a message, sharing a file, buying something, permanently deleting data, installing software from a source it doesn't recognize, signing in with a saved login |
| Hands it to you | Changing a password, moving money between accounts |

## Answer when your dot asks

The middle group is the one you'll meet first. Your dot asks in the conversation, in a sentence that names the action and says where it stops, and you answer by typing.

![A message from a dot: Air Canada puts the seat map after passenger details. May I enter your legal name, date of birth, gender, email and phone with Air Canada to check the aisle price? I'll use details I can verify from your existing travel records and ask only for anything missing. This still won't purchase a ticket](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/rules-asks-first.jpg)

*An approval request has no buttons. It's a question, and it says what the yes won't cover.*

Image: Pat Simmons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fzbEP_sOjk)

- **To approve**, say yes in words that can't be misread. "Yes, send it" beats "uh huh". If your dot turns down a vague yes, it writes out the sentence it needs.
- **To decline**, say no and what you want kept: "Not today, don't book anything. Just keep the comparison."
- **Drafting isn't sending.** Asking for a draft reply doesn't give your dot permission to send it.

## The four behaviors

When the same question keeps coming back, or an action should never go without one, that's a job for a rule. Every rule ends in one of four choices, and these are the words on the screen.

| Pick | Your dot | For example |
|---|---|---|
| **Take action without asking** | Goes ahead with no approval step | Sharing your email address with any online form |
| **Take action when you say so** | Goes ahead if your request asked for exactly this, and asks otherwise | Posting in a channel |
| **Ask before taking action** | Stops and waits for your yes every time. A new rule starts here | Sending messages to customers |
| **Hand off to you** | Never does this itself. It asks you to | Deleting shared project files |

Keep rules few and narrow. A rule that repeats a default is one more thing to maintain, and **Take action without asking** on "send messages" covers your customers, your boss and everyone else. Name the action and who it's for: "send a calendar invite to someone on my team".

## Add a rule

With a behavior in mind, add the rule in Settings. You need a dot that's set up and at least one [app connected](https://howtousedots.com/apps).

**Walkthrough: Add a custom rule**

### Step 1: Open Settings

Click your account picture at the bottom left of ChatGPT, then **Settings**.

![The account menu: Usage, Show Mini, Invite a friend, Settings, Help, Log out](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/rules-open-settings.jpg)

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

### Step 2: Click Personalization

Settings opens with a list down the left side. Click **Personalization**.

![The Settings list: General, Notifications, Import, Profile, Appearance, Parental controls, Trusted contact, Voice, Configuration, Personalization, which is selected, then Mini and Pets](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/rules-personalization.jpg)

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

### Step 3: Click Custom rules

Scroll to the **Permissions** heading and click the **Custom rules** row under it. The row names your dot.

![Under the heading Permissions, a row reads Custom rules: Choose which actions Zozo can take without asking, and which require approval](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/rules-custom-rules-row.jpg)

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

### Step 4: Click Add

The **Custom rules** page lists your rules. **Add** is at the top right.

![The top of the Custom rules page: the heading Custom rules, the sentence Zozo knows when to take action, and when to ask for approval. Add custom rules for more control. Zozo will always try to follow these rules, but may make mistakes. An Add button sits at the top right](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/rules-click-add.jpg)

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

### Step 5: Describe the action

In the box under **When** and your dot's name **wants to:**, name one kind of action in plain words: "send an email to a customer", "post in a public channel". You have 400 characters.

![The empty Add rule dialog: When Zozo wants to, a text box with the placeholder e.g. write an email for me, a counter reading 0 / 400, Zozo should, a menu set to Ask before taking action, and Cancel and Add rule buttons](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/rules-add-rule-empty.jpg)

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

### Step 6: Pick the behavior and click Add rule

Open the menu under your dot's name and **should:**, choose one of the four, then click **Add rule**.

![The Add rule dialog with the rule Always ask me before sending an email. and the behavior menu open: Take action without asking; Take action when you say so; Ask before taking action, ticked; Hand off to you. Each has a line of explanation under it](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/rules-add-rule-choices.jpg)

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

### Step 7: Find your rule in the list

Your rule is now a row on the **Custom rules** page, and it applies from now on. Your dot tries to follow your rules and can get one wrong, so keep checking work that matters.

![The Custom rules list with one rule: Always ask me before sending an email, with its behavior, Ask before taking action, in a menu at the right. Below it, a Default rules row with a Learn more button and a Plugin permissions row with an Open Plugins button](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/rules-saved.jpg)

1. The behavior sits in a menu on the rule's row.
2. Default rules: what your dot does where you've set nothing.
3. Plugin permissions are separate. Open Plugins takes you to them.

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

On a phone, the **Add rule** screen has the same two parts and the same four choices. Tap the blue tick to save.

You can also skip Settings and say the rule in the conversation, typed or on a call: "Add a custom rule: always ask me before you send a message to a customer." Your dot rewrites your words into a rule, picks the behavior and posts a **Confirm custom rule** button. Read both, then click the button to save. Your dot can't change your rules without that click.

## See where a rule applies

A rule is the middle one of three checks an action passes before it happens: the app's plugin permission, your rule, then Auto-review. Pick a behavior and send five actions through to see which check stops each one.

**Interactive: Rule simulator: where does an action stop?**

Open it: https://howtousedots.com/widgets/rule-gates.html

What it does: Pick the behavior for a custom rule about sending email (Take action without asking, Take action when you say so, Ask before taking action, Hand off to you), then send five sample actions through three checks: plugin permission, your rule and Auto-review. Reading a calendar goes ahead. An email you asked for and one the dot thought of follow the rule. A Slack post stops because Slack isn't connected. A password change is always handed to you.

Its content as text:

### Where does each action stop?

Pick a behavior for a rule about email, then send five things your dot might do through the three checks. Change the behavior and send them again.

For this run: Gmail is connected and its permission lets your dot send. Google Calendar is set to Read-only actions. Slack isn't connected.

1. Read tomorrow's calendar · It only looks.
   Waiting.
   Does it · It reads the calendar. Reading changes nothing, so no rule about sending applies and there's nothing to approve.
2. Send the quote to a customer · You wrote: "Email Dana the quote today."
   Waiting.
   **Take action without asking, or Take action when you say so**: Sends · You asked for this send and said who gets it. Auto-review checks the recipient and the message, then it goes.
   **Ask before taking action**: Asks you · Your rule says ask, even though you requested the email. It writes the draft and asks: "May I send the quote to Dana?" Sends · Auto-review checks it, and it goes. Your yes covered this one email. · Nothing is sent. The draft stays in Gmail.
   **Hand off to you**: Hands it to you · It writes the draft and asks you to press send. It never sends an email on its own while this rule is set.
3. Send a follow-up it thought of · You never asked for this one.
   Waiting.
   **Take action without asking**: Sends · Your rule lets email go without a question. Auto-review still checks the recipient and the message first.
   **Take action when you say so, or Ask before taking action**: Asks you · You didn't request this email, so it asks right before sending: "Want me to send Dana a follow-up?" Sends · Auto-review checks it, and it goes. The next follow-up gets its own question. · Nothing is sent. The draft stays in Gmail.
   **Hand off to you**: Hands it to you · It tells you a follow-up is drafted and leaves the sending to you.
4. Post the summary in Slack · Slack isn't connected.
   Waiting.
   Can't · Your dot has no way into Slack, so the action never reaches your rule. A rule doesn't connect an app. Connect Slack first.
5. Change a password · On a supplier's website, in its own browser.
   Waiting.
   Hands it to you · Changing a password always comes back to you. It's a built-in safety requirement, and no rule overrides it. Your dot does the steps around it and you type the new password yourself.

### What a rule can't do

The Slack post and the password change in the simulator never reach your rule: a rule can't connect an app, and it can't override a built-in safety requirement. A rule also can't:

- **Remove a required confirmation**, such as your OK for each new sign-in with a saved login.
- **Switch off Auto-review**, which runs on every step that changes something.
- **Set a preference.** Tone, format and how often you want updates go in the conversation.
- **Work where an admin has switched rules off.** In Enterprise workspaces they're off until an admin turns on "Use custom rules for dots".

## Check yourself

One question on approvals before you move on.

**Predict: You approved one email. A minute later your dot wants to send another. What happens?**

- It sends, because you already said yes
- It asks again
- It stops working until tomorrow

Answer: It asks again

An approval covers one action. For a standing yes, tell your dot who the message goes to, what it should say and when to send it, or add a rule.

To practice an approval and a rule with nothing at stake, [try this in the simulator](https://howtousedots.com/try).

**Next:** [Cloud computer](https://howtousedots.com/cloud-computer)

Every dot has its own computer in the cloud. Open it from the profile, take over the mouse, sign it in to a website privately, and handle sites that block it.

### Can my dot spend my money?

It can buy things with a card you've already saved on a shop's website, and it needs your approval for the purchase. An approval given ahead of time counts only when it covers that specific purchase. Moving money between accounts is always handed back to you.

### Where are the default rules?

On the **Custom rules** page, the **Default rules** row has a **Learn more** button. The table at the top of this page lists what those defaults do.

### How do I change or remove a rule?

Open **Custom rules**. Each rule's row has a menu: pick a different behavior there, or edit or delete the rule.

- 2026-10-06: Rebuilt as a lesson with the real Custom rules screens and a rule simulator.
- 2026-10-05: First published.

## Sources

- [OpenAI docs: Control your dot](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/controls)
- [OpenAI Help Center: Dots privacy, security, and safety FAQs](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001529-dots-privacy-security-and-safety-faqs)
- [OpenAI Help Center: Getting started with your dot](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot)
- [OpenAI: How we build safety, security, and privacy into dots (and its screenshot of Add rule on a phone)](https://openai.com/index/how-we-build-safety-security-and-privacy-into-dots/)
- [OpenAI docs: Connect computers and apps to your dot](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/computers-and-apps)
- [OpenAI Help Center: Manage dots in ChatGPT workspaces](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001554-manage-dots-in-chatgpt-workspaces)
- [OpenAI docs: Manage dots permissions and capabilities](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/enterprise/dots-admin-guide)
- [Zinho Automates on YouTube: screenshots of Settings, Custom rules and Add rule](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)
- [Eric Michaud on YouTube: the Confirm custom rule button in a conversation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmd1KckTE3o)
- [Pat Simmons on YouTube: screenshot of a dot asking before it enters personal details](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fzbEP_sOjk)