A role is a persona description that tells Ellie how to write on your behalf. It's the most direct way to control Ellie's tone, style, sign-off, and behaviour.
What a role is
A role is a short description of who Ellie is writing as and how it should write. Examples:
The role is added to every draft Ellie generates, so the instructions apply consistently without you having to repeat them.
Create a role
- Go to app.tryellie.com/roles
- Click Add new role
- Give it a name (e.g. "Default", "Sales", "Support")
- Write your instructions in the description field
- Save
There's no fixed format — write the instructions however feels natural. A paragraph, bullet points, or a mix both work.
Set a default role
Your default role is what Ellie uses when no other role is selected. Mark a role as default by clicking the star icon next to it on the Roles page. Only one role can be the default at a time.
If you only ever have one role, it's automatically the default.
Switch roles per reply (extension)
When using the browser extension, you can choose a different role for a specific reply:
- Open the email and click Reply
- In Ellie's toolbar, find the Roles dropdown
- Select the role you want for this reply
- Click Write
The selected role only applies to that reply — your default role stays unchanged for future replies.
Assign roles to categories (auto-drafts)
If you use auto-drafts, you can map a specific role to each category of email. This way, Ellie automatically uses the right persona depending on what the email is about.
For example: client enquiry emails → "Consultant" role; sales emails → "Sales" role; everything else → default role.
See the full setup guide: Assigning a role to a category .
Tips for writing effective roles
- Be specific. Vague instructions like "be professional" are less useful than "sign off as Alex, use British spelling, avoid exclamation marks".
- Include your sign-off. Ellie defaults to a generic sign-off otherwise — make it yours.
- Mention what to avoid. If Ellie keeps doing something you don't like, explicitly say not to do it.
- Keep it focused. A role is a persona, not a knowledge base. For factual content (pricing, product details), use the Knowledge Base or Structured Data instead.