AI PromptsHow to adapt a ready prompt to your own case
The prompts on this site are starting points. Each has parts in square brackets and capital letters, such as [WHO THE READER IS], which you replace with your own details. How well you fill those parts decides how good the answer is. This guide shows how to do it well and how to bend a prompt to a case it was not written for.
Fill every placeholder with real detail
A placeholder filled lazily gives a lazy answer. Compare two ways of filling the same one.
| Placeholder | Thin | Useful |
|---|---|---|
| [WHO THE READER IS] | my boss | my manager, who is busy and reads email on her phone |
| [WHAT YOU WANT] | leave | three days of leave next week for my sister's wedding in Jalandhar |
| [YOUR NOTES] | project is late | the report is five days late because the survey data arrived late; I can deliver by Friday |
You do not need good English in the placeholders. Notes in broken sentences, or in Hindi or Punjabi, are fine. What matters is that the facts are there.
Delete what does not apply
If a prompt asks for something you do not have, remove that line and do not leave the placeholder empty. An empty [DATE] sometimes makes the assistant invent a date. Either give the fact or take the line out.
Five things you can always change
The reader. Changing who the result is for is the strongest adjustment. Add a line such as "The reader is an elderly customer" or "This is for a government officer I have not met".
The length. Every prompt here gives a length. Change the number to suit you. For a WhatsApp message, halve it.
The language. Add "Reply in Hindi", "in Punjabi in Gurmukhi script" or "in simple English". You can also write your prompt in Hindi or Punjabi. For natural results ask for "the everyday language people speak, with common English words kept in English".
The tone. Add one word or phrase: formal, friendly, firm, respectful, cheerful.
The format. Ask for a table, a numbered list, bullet points, or "plain paragraphs with no headings and no bullet points" if you intend to paste the result into a message.
Using a prompt for a different job
Often the prompt you need is not on the site but a near neighbour is. The reminder email prompt becomes a reminder for a library book, a society maintenance payment or a school fee by changing three placeholders. The meeting minutes prompt works for notes of a phone call. Look at what the prompt does, such as "turn rough notes into a tidy record", and not only at its title.
Combine two prompts
You can chain prompts in one conversation. Use the notes-into-minutes prompt first, and then, without starting again, the follow-up-message prompt with the line "use the minutes above". The assistant remembers earlier messages in the same conversation.
Keep the safety lines
Many prompts here include lines such as "Do not add facts that are not in my notes" or "Do not rewrite it". They look optional. They are the most valuable part. Without them an assistant is more likely to fill gaps with invented details or to replace your work with its own. When you shorten a prompt, keep those lines.
If the answer is not right
Do not start over. Reply in the same conversation and say precisely what to change:
- "Shorter. Under 60 words."
- "Too formal. Write it the way a shopkeeper would say it."
- "You added a date I did not give. Remove it."
- "Keep the first paragraph, rewrite the second."
Two or three such replies usually reach a good result faster than rewriting the prompt.
Save your own versions
When a prompt works well for you after your changes, save it. A notes app, a text file or a message to yourself is enough. Include your standing details, such as "I run a hardware shop in Ludhiana and write to customers in simple Punjabi", so that you do not retype them. Over a few weeks you build a small personal set that fits your work better than any general collection, including this one.
What not to put in a placeholder
Never fill a placeholder with a password, a one-time password, an identity number, a bank account or card number, or private details of another person. The prompts here are written so that you never need to. Where a letter needs such a number, leave a blank and write it in by hand afterwards.
This is an independent site. It is not connected with any company that makes AI assistants. The prompts are plain text and can be used in any AI chat assistant. An AI assistant can give wrong or made-up answers: check anything important before you rely on it, and do not paste private details into a prompt.