> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://support.vlex.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://support.vlex.com/vincent-by-vlex/vincent/skills/setting-up-your-personal-vincent-preferences.md).

# Setting Up Your Personal Vincent Preferences

#### Summary

Personal Vincent Preferences are always-on settings that apply to every conversation you have with Vincent, your preferred name, practice areas, default jurisdiction, and standing instructions. Configuring them once gives Vincent the context it needs to tailor every response to you.

#### Why This is Important

Every time you start a conversation with Vincent without personal preferences configured, you're starting from a blank slate. Vincent doesn't know your name, your jurisdiction, your practice area, or how you like to work. That means either you spend the first few messages establishing context, or Vincent produces generic output that needs correction.

Personal Preferences fix this by giving Vincent a **standing brief** about you. Set them once, and every future conversation begins with Vincent already knowing the essentials. Combined with your firm's Organization Instructions and any Skills you have installed, this is what makes Vincent feel personalized rather than generic.

#### General Preferences vs. Skills

Before configuring anything, it helps to understand the key distinction:

* **General Preferences** are **always-on context:** they apply to every conversation, regardless of what you're doing.
* **Skills** are **task-specific:** they only activate when a particular kind of work comes up (drafting a demand letter, reviewing a contract, preparing a deposition).

Use General Preferences for things that are true about you in every conversation. Use Skills for things that are only true when you're doing a specific task.

#### Step-by-Step Guide

**Step 1: Open the General Tab**

1. On the Vincent home page, click **Customize** in the top right.
2. Make sure you are on the **General** tab (this is the default view).

You'll see all of your personal preferences grouped in one place.

**Step 2: Configure Each Setting**

Work through the fields below. You can save partial configurations and return later, no field is required.

<table><thead><tr><th width="248.15234375">Setting</th><th>What It Does</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Preferred Name</strong></td><td>The name Vincent uses when drafting emails, contracts, or other documents on your behalf. Use the name you want to appear in signatures and correspondence.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Practice Areas</strong></td><td>Tells Vincent your area of work (for example, commercial litigation, corporate transactions, employment law) so it can tailor drafting style, research depth, and tone to your practice.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Default Jurisdiction</strong></td><td>The jurisdiction Vincent applies when no specific jurisdiction is set in a conversation. Set this to the jurisdiction you work in most often.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Agentic Mode</strong></td><td>The smarter, more capable version of Vincent. Keep this on unless you have a specific reason to disable it.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Legal Pad Appearance</strong></td><td>Visual style for Legal Pad: <strong>Minimal</strong> (white) or <strong>Traditional</strong> (yellow ruled lines). Purely cosmetic, choose whichever you prefer.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Personal Instructions</strong></td><td>Standing instructions Vincent follows in every one of your conversations. This is your personal brief.</td></tr></tbody></table>

**Step 3: Write Your Personal Instructions**

The **Personal Instructions** field (also labeled **Vincent Instructions** in the interface) is the most powerful of the personal settings. Whatever you write here, Vincent applies to every conversation you have.

Good uses of Personal Instructions include:

* **Signature and closings:** "Sign off emails as 'Best regards, \[Name].' Never use 'Cheers' or 'Warmly.'"
* **Style preferences:** "Always use active voice in draft documents. Keep client-facing summaries under 300 words."
* **Personal jurisdiction overrides:** "I practice primarily in Ontario. Default to Ontario law when a Canadian jurisdiction isn't otherwise specified."
* **Format preferences:** "Present research findings as numbered lists with a short summary sentence before each list."

<figure><img src="/files/mnnUMQqgHuW1rpd71tNX" alt=""><figcaption><p>Keep Personal Instructions focused. A tight, precise brief is more effective than a long one.</p></figcaption></figure>

#### How Personal Preferences Interact with Firm-Wide Settings

Vincent reads context in layers. When you have Personal Instructions and your firm has Organization Instructions, both apply, but they can occasionally conflict.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Personal Instructions take precedence over Organization Instructions when they conflict.** If your Publisher has set a firm-wide default (for example, "Use Bluebook citations") and you write something different in your Personal Instructions ("Use OSCOLA citations"), your conversations follow your personal setting. Use this thoughtfully, most Personal Instructions should complement, not override, firm-wide standards.
{% endhint %}

For task-specific behavior, use a Skill instead of Personal Instructions. Skills are the right layer for things like "how to structure a demand letter" or "which clauses to flag in a vendor contract"  see Creating a Custom Skill.

#### Best Practices & Pro Tips

* **Configure your preferences before you start building Skills.** Skills inherit context from your General Preferences, your practice area, default jurisdiction, preferred name. If those aren't set correctly, every Skill you build will be missing baseline context and will produce output you have to correct. Spend five minutes on this tab before touching the Skills panel.
* **Update your Personal Instructions when patterns emerge.** If you find yourself giving Vincent the same correction repeatedly across different conversations, "shorter please," "no legal citations in client emails," "use British spelling" that's a signal to add it to Personal Instructions. Every recurring correction is a Personal Instruction waiting to be written.

#### Related Articles

* [What are Skills in Vincent?](/vincent-by-vlex/vincent/skills/what-are-skills-in-vincent.md)
* [Setting Organization-Wide Instructions](/vincent-by-vlex/vincent/skills/setting-organization-wide-instructions.md)
* [Creating a Custom Skill](/vincent-by-vlex/vincent/skills/creating-a-custom-skill.md)
* [Tips for Writing Effective Skills](/vincent-by-vlex/vincent/skills/tips-for-writing-effective-skills.md)

### Relevant Video Content

{% embed url="<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aIrLCkIFW4DX82W9YKr9NqQUx46hFS6L/view?usp=sharing>" %}

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