Word the prompt

Updated 2026-10-10

A prompt states the intent and the check for done. The playbook supplies the steps, so a few plain sentences beat a spec.

Put in

The goal. Say what is wrong or what the user wants.
The done check. It can pass or fail. “Make it better” and a duration are not checks.
The proof to show. Ask for the real command output, a video of the flow, the stored value, or a before and after number.
What the user already knows. A symptom, a repro step, a log, or a link saves the agent a search.
The real constraints. “repro first”, “don’t change any code yet”, “zero behavior change”, and “let me review before proceeding” each change what the agent does.

The how. Say what to achieve, and leave the agent room to find a better way.
A list of skills or steps. A hand-written order drops or reorders steps the playbook keeps. Name a skill only to override one choice.
The user’s theory of the cause, until the agent restates the problem. A stated guess narrows the search.

For a noisy report, ask the agent to restate the underlying issue in its own words and in plain English before it does anything else. A misreading shows up before any code exists.
In a fresh chat, /recall earlier work on the topic. Old chats hold context that the new agent lacks.
Before a change to unfamiliar code, ask /how for the mechanics and /why for the reasons. An agent with no traced model fixes the symptom at the first plausible spot.
Ask /teach to make the case for a choice, as in “convince me it fixes the cause and not the symptom”. A case is easier to check than a summary.

Never take the first design. Ask for prototypes of a few options, with screenshots or videos for UI, and pick from the evidence.
Let prototypes answer the open questions. Don’t review an abstract plan adversarially, because reviewers invent risks that never happen.
For a shared package or API, ask for the README or a tutorial first, then work back to the code. The doc becomes the target the agent checks itself against.
Ask for the plan only after the design is settled. Each step of the plan ends in a check.

“do it”, “continue”, and “keep going until done” are whole prompts once the chat holds the task.
Start with “new task” when the subject changes. Otherwise the mode treats the message as the next step.

Say “im going to bed” or “im stepping away” so the agent stops asking.
Write done as checks every iteration can run, and give /loop that predicate.
Ask for a fresh worktree off a named base.
Pre-answer what the agent would stop for, such as “don’t ask me before committing”.
Ask for a decision log to audit later.
Give an exit: “if you’re truly stuck after a few hours, stop and write up why”.

Restate the goal: “i said the goal is to repro. i did not ask for a fix yet.”
Name the principle: “apply prove it works. show me the real output, not the build log.”
A principle name works because the agent already read the rule. Its reply names the decision the rule changed.