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Traversal works out of the box — you don’t need to configure anything to get accurate investigations. Customization is the last-mile layer on top: when you have opinions about how Traversal should investigate or write things up, you set them once and Traversal applies them to every investigation, instead of re-typing them each time. There are two ways to customize:
  • Personalization — your own instructions, applied to every investigation you run: Slack (channels and DMs) and the web app.
  • Channel custom instructions — instructions applied to every investigation in a Slack channel, no matter who runs it.
Neither can override Traversal’s security guardrails or its evidence and citation rules.

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What to include

Anything you’d otherwise find yourself repeating — the preferences and hard-won context that apply to you or your team:
  • Investigation steps — where to look first, or what to rule out. “Always check the deploys dashboard and recent releases before anything else.”
  • Known failure modes — the usual suspects for your systems. “Latency spikes on checkout are usually the payments provider rate-limiting at peak — check that first.”
  • Runbooks and references — point Traversal at the docs and dashboards you trust. “For database incidents, follow our failover runbook: <link>.”
  • Response format — how you want findings written up. “Lead with customer impact, then the root cause with evidence. Keep it to a few bullets.”
  • Priorities — what matters most. “Prioritize customer-facing services; always call out anything touching checkout.”
Keep them specific and durable — standing preferences, not one-off asks.

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Personalization

Set your instructions in Settings → Personalization, under Instructions for Traversal. They follow you across every investigation you start, in Slack or the web app.

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Channel custom instructions

Set a channel’s instructions in Settings → Channel management, under Custom instructions. They apply to every investigation in that channel — from anyone, including auto-triggered ones — so they’re ideal for alert channels, auto-trigger channels, or a shared debugging channel where the whole team wants consistent output.
Custom instructions shape how Traversal works, not when it runs — use triggers to control what starts an investigation.

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How they work together

In a Slack channel, both layers apply, and the channel’s instructions take priority if they conflict. In a DM or the web app, only your personal instructions apply. Neither can override Traversal’s security or evidence rules.