How much should I let Bernard do on his own?
Bernard finds work to do on your site. How much of it he will eventually be trusted to do on his own is one setting, with three positions.
The prompt
“Explain what changes for my site if I move from my current setting to [the next setting], once Bernard has earned it.”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
The three settings
“Ask me first.” Bernard changes nothing on his own. He tells you what he found and what he would do, and waits for you to say yes. Every site starts here.
“Do the routine things.” Once a routine fix has earned this - things a check can prove are right, such as a broken link, a missing photo description, or an old copyright year in your footer - it will happen by itself. Anything bigger, such as a new page or an email to your list, is still prepared for you to approve.
“Get on with it.” Once a piece of “simple yes” work has earned this - the kind you would almost always agree to, such as refreshing a page’s wording - it will happen by itself too. Anything that needs your judgement, such as a price or a new page topic, still waits for you at every setting.
What this setting does today
Right now, in this build, Bernard prepares every piece of work and waits for your approval, whatever your setting says. Nothing on your site changes, sends, or goes live by itself yet. Choosing a setting sets the target: as each kind of work proves itself, while you keep approving it, it moves to behave the way your setting says. We will tell you when that starts happening for a kind of work on your site.
Where to change it
Look for the line “Bernard may: [your setting] - Change” at the top of Bernard’s list on your site home. Tapping Change opens a panel with the three settings and a one-sentence explanation of each.
It starts low, on purpose
Every site starts at “Ask me first”. Choosing a higher setting is something you do, never something turned on for you.
Questions people ask
- What are the three settings?
- “Ask me first” - you approve everything, and this is where every site starts. “Do the routine things” - once earned, routine fixes will happen by themselves. “Get on with it” - once earned, simple, low-risk work will happen too. At every setting, anything bigger, such as a new page or an email to your list, still waits for your yes.
- Does moving my setting change anything today?
- Not by itself. Bernard still prepares every piece of work and waits for your approval, whatever your setting says. Moving the setting up chooses what a kind of work will do once it has earned the trust to work that way; it does not switch anything on today.
- Which setting should I start at?
- Every site starts at “Ask me first”. Moving up is your choice, never something switched on for you.
- Who can change the setting?
- Only account owners. Anyone who manages your site can see the current setting, but only an owner can change it.