## Confirmation Words

_Confirmation Words_ let you define a custom list of words and phrases that the AI Agent recognizes as `yes` or `no` responses. This feature is useful for straightforward use cases where you need exact control over how the system recognizes affirmations (`yes`, `yep`) or negations (`no`, `nah`). Unlike machine learning-based Intent matching, confirmation words rely on explicit, user-defined terms. The AI Agent matches user input directly against your list, ensuring predictable behavior without requiring extensive training.

## Key Benefits

- **Simple and precise**. Confirmation words work well for small, predictable sets of responses.
- **Fully customizable**. You decide which words trigger `yes` or `no`.

## Restrictions

- The AI Agent recognizes only exact matches or predefined synonyms from the Confirmation Words list.
- The AI Agent doesn’t adapt to new confirmation words variations unless you add them yourself.

## How to Use

You can apply confirmation words globally across all Flows in a Project or customize them for a specific Flow.

- Project-Level Settings
- Flow-Level Settings

To use confirmation words for all Flows, do the following:

1. In the left-side menu of the Project, go to **Manage > Settings**.
2. On the **Settings** page, click **NLU Settings**.
3. In the **General Flow Logic** section, select **Confirmation Words**.
4. Enter the `positive` or `negative` confirmation words, one per line. Save changes.

By default, all Flows inherit the **Confirmation Words** and **Threshold** settings from the Project-level configuration. You can override these settings for a specific Flow.
To use confirmation words for a specific Flow, do the following:

1. Open the existing Flow.
2. In the upper-right corner of the **Flow Editor** page, select **Settings > Configuration**.
3. In the **General Flow Logic** section, select **Confirmation Words**.
4. Enter the `positive` or `negative` confirmation words, one per line. Save changes.

## How to Test

Check if confirmation words work as expected via the [Interaction Panel](https://docs.cognigy.com/ai/agents/test/interaction-panel/overview):

1. In the existing Flow, open the Interaction Panel by clicking **Chat with your Agent** in the upper-right corner of the page.
2. In the Flow editor, add a Question Node and select the **Yes/No** input type.
3. Run the Flow by typing a test response including a word from your confirmation list, for example, `yes` or `nope`.
4. On the **Info** tab, select **Input** to view the Input object in JSON format. In the `input.type` object, you will see the answer depending on the user input.

Positive Confirmation:
    
    ```
    "type": "pAnswer",
    ```
    
    Negative Confirmation:
    
    ```
    "type": "nAnswer",
    ```

## More Information

[Yes/No Intents](https://docs.cognigy.com/ai/platform-features/nlu/intents/yes-no-intents)

Last modified on April 21, 2026