> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.qall.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Free-form playbooks

> Write the procedure as guidance and let the assistant follow it.

A free-form playbook is written the way you'd brief a new colleague. The assistant
follows your guidance, deciding for itself how to phrase things and when to move
on.

Use one when the procedure has a shape but not a fixed order — handling a
complaint, qualifying an enquiry, talking someone through options.

## Writing one

Write it as instructions to a person:

```markdown theme={null}
## Changing a stay

Find out which booking they mean. Most callers have the reference; if not, their
phone number is enough to find it.

Check what they want to change — dates, room type, or the number of guests. Look
up availability before promising anything.

If the new dates cost more, say so plainly and ask whether to go ahead before
making the change.

If they want to cancel rather than change, don't handle it here — hand them to
the bookings team.
```

Short paragraphs work better than long ones. The assistant reads this as guidance,
so "check availability before promising anything" is the kind of instruction that
actually changes behaviour.

## Referring to tools and knowledge

Type `@` in the editor to bring in something the playbook needs:

| Type | Brings in |
| - | - |
| `@tool:` | A [tool](/tools) the assistant can use while this playbook runs |
| `@kb:` | A [knowledge](/knowledge) article kept in mind for the whole procedure |
| `@playbook:` | Another playbook this one can hand off to |

```markdown theme={null}
Look the booking up with @tool:Find reservation, then check the change rules in
@kb:Booking terms before you quote anything.
```

Anything you reference becomes available only while this playbook runs, and
disappears when it ends. You don't attach them separately — referencing them is
what attaches them.

## When to switch to structured

Free-form gives the assistant room to use judgement. That's the point, and it's
also the limit.

Move to a [structured playbook](/playbooks/structured) when you need a step
to happen *every* time — a legal disclosure, an identity check before a refund, a
confirmation read back word for word. Guidance can be followed loosely. Steps
can't.


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