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Step-by-step guide · Prompting

Ask for a plan before the work begins

It’s easy to ask for a solution before the problem is clear. A short planning conversation can surface a wrong assumption while it is still easy to change.

Steps

1. Describe what happens now, who does the work, and where it gets difficult. A concrete example is more useful than a broad goal like “make this efficient.”
2. Explain what must stay true. Include any exceptions that would make an otherwise sensible suggestion fail.
3. Ask for a few approaches and their tradeoffs before asking the AI to build or change anything.
4. Choose one small test. Agree on the result you will inspect before moving to the next step.

Prompt to copy

Replace the text in brackets with your own details, then paste it into the AI tool you use.

Help me untangle a problem that’s on my mind. Start by asking what’s happening, and let me talk it through in my own words before you suggest a solution.

After my explanation, organize it into: what’s happening, why it matters, facts I’ve given you, things I’m assuming, constraints, and what I want to happen instead. Include the details that affect the decision, even if I mentioned them out of order. Show me what you think the problem is so I can correct you.

Ask the most useful missing question, one at a time. Once we understand the problem, suggest two practical ways forward using resources I actually have, and help me choose one small next step.

Finish with a short plan: the chosen first step, what information or access it needs, and how we will know it worked. Stop at the plan so I can review it before we start.

What to check

• Did the summary capture the actual problem?
• Does the proposed approach respect the exception you described?
• Is it using tools and access you actually have?
• Can you tell whether the first test worked without building the whole system?

Then try this

After the first test, explain what happened and what surprised you. Revise the plan from that evidence before expanding it.

Updated September 2026. Examples are fictional. This is a working method, not a guarantee of what any tool will produce.