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The most powerful customization in Notis happens inside Notion itself. Every Notion database has a description field, and so does every property. Notis reads both on every interaction, so anything you write there becomes the rules of the road for that database. This is the foundation of turning any database into an AI agent.

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Where to write instructions

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Database-level description

Open any database in Notion. Click the three-dots menu → Edit description. Whatever you write here becomes context Notis loads every time it touches that database. Use the database description for:
  • The overall purpose of the database
  • Multi-step workflows that touch this database (e.g. “always research before saving”)
  • Rules that span multiple properties (e.g. “the title and the slug must always match”)

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Property-level description

Click the dropdown arrow on any property → Edit property → Description. Use property descriptions for per-field rules. Use property descriptions for:
  • Formatting expectations (“dates always in ISO format”)
  • Content rules (“title is max 60 characters”)
  • Default behaviors (“if I don’t specify a value, default to Medium”)
  • Cross-property rules (“if Severity is Critical, set Priority to P0”)

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Example: Social Media Calendar

A common pattern. The database has columns for the post title, platform, copy, and image. The instructions live where they belong: Database description:
On the “Platform” property:
On the “Hero image” property:
Now when you say “Add a LinkedIn post about today’s Anthropic launch,” Notis reads the database description (research first, brand voice, image last), reads the platform description (1200 chars max, line breaks), and reads the image description (landscape, brand color) — all without you spelling any of it out.

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Example: Bug Reports

Database description:
On the “Severity” property:

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Example: CRM follow-ups

Database description:

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Best practices

Keep instructions short and actionable. Notis re-reads them on every interaction, so verbose instructions slow things down and get less attention than crisp ones. Bullet points and short rules beat long paragraphs.
Write instructions for an intern. If a smart intern wouldn’t know what you mean, neither will Notis. Spell out the why alongside the rule when it isn’t obvious.
Iterate from real misses. When Notis does something wrong, that’s a signal an instruction is missing or unclear. Fix the description, don’t just correct the one entry.
Instructions live in Notion and apply to that workspace. If you have multiple Notion accounts connected (work + personal), make sure to add instructions to the right database — they don’t carry over.

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What’s next