# Overview

Protocol files in BITTSy allow you to define what, when, and how stimuli should be presented, setting up the entire structure of an experiment.

The following sections will detail how to set up the basic structure of a protocol file.

Sometimes, you may wish to build a protocol file from scratch. But other times, particularly if the study you are building is fairly prototypical example of a common behavioral paradigm, you may be able to adapt an existing protocol file to meet your needs - and this is certainly easier! See our [Resouces page](../support/resources) and [Example Protocol Walkthroughs](example-protocols) for sample protocols of headturn preference, preferential looking, and habituation studies.

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Pay attention to capitalization of keywords when learning BITTSy's protocol syntax. Capitalization matters, except for tag names and phase names.
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