WHAT'S AI? — THE TEN PROMPT PATTERNS (Appendix A)
Copy the skeleton, replace the CAPS with your specifics, delete any
line you don't need. Living, copyable versions of all ten are kept at
prompttool.co.

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1. THE FREELANCER BRIEF
Use for any writing or making task — brief the assistant the way you'd
brief a capable stranger, with role, audience, and constraints.

You are a ROLE. Write a DELIVERABLE for AUDIENCE, who
cares about WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT. Constraints: LENGTH,
TONE, MUST INCLUDE, MUST AVOID.

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2. SHOW-YOUR-WORK
Use whenever the answer involves arithmetic, logic, or steps you
intend to act on.

QUESTION. Show your work step by step before giving the
final answer, so I can check each step by hand.

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3. MATCH-THIS-EXAMPLE
Use when you have a sample of what good looks like and can't describe
it in words.

Here is an example of exactly the style and format I
want: PASTE EXAMPLE. Now produce the same kind of thing
for NEW SUBJECT, matching the example's tone, length,
and structure.

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4. STRICT FORMAT
Use when the output feeds something else — a spreadsheet, a template,
a decision — and drift is expensive.

Answer in exactly this format, nothing before or after:
FIELD 1: ...
FIELD 2: ...
If a field is unknown, write "unknown" — do not guess.

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5. THE PREMORTEM
Use before committing to a plan, purchase, or decision.

Here is my plan: DESCRIBE PLAN. Assume it failed
badly six months from now. List the most likely
reasons it failed, most probable first, and what I
could do this week to prevent each one.

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6. SUMMARIZE-FOR-DECISION
Use on long documents when what you really need isn't a summary —
it's a decision.

I need to decide: THE DECISION. Read the following and
give me only what bears on that decision: key facts,
risks, and a recommendation with its reasoning. Quote
the source for each key fact. DOCUMENT: PASTE.

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7. EXPLAIN-AT-MY-LEVEL
Use when learning anything, so the explanation lands where you
actually are.

Explain TOPIC to someone who already understands WHAT
YOU KNOW but not WHAT YOU DON'T. Use an analogy from
A FIELD YOU KNOW WELL, then give one concrete example.
Then ask me one question to check I understood.

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8. CRITIQUE-THEN-REWRITE
Use on your own drafts — the critique teaches you; the rewrite saves
you time.

Here is my draft: PASTE DRAFT. First, critique it
against these criteria: CRITERIA. Then rewrite it to
fix only the problems you named, changing nothing else.

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9. SUMMARIZE-AND-RESTART
Use when a long conversation starts contradicting itself or
forgetting — rescue the work into a fresh session.

Summarize everything we've established in this
conversation: decisions made, facts confirmed, work
completed, and what remains. Make it complete enough
that a new session could pick up exactly where we are.

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10. ANSWER-ONLY-FROM-THIS-MATERIAL
Use whenever an invented answer would be worse than no answer.

Answer using ONLY the material below. Cite the line or
section you used for each answer. If the material
doesn't cover the question, reply exactly: "I don't
know — ask a human." MATERIAL: PASTE.
