Prompt library · AI · 10 prompts
Prompts from the guide
Routines in Claude: mail sorts itself and drafts get written before you arrive
10 prompts from this guide. Fill in whatever sits in [square brackets] — your own context, the document text or the name of your tool. That context is exactly what separates a generic answer from a usable one.
The scope you grant is the scope that applies
I want to build a morning routine that prepares reply drafts for me. Before I turn it on, I need to know what NOT to run it on. Go through my messages from the last 14 days and make me an inventory: 1. What types of mail I get — categories, message count, typical sender for each category 2. Which categories contain sensitive content (personal data, health information, payroll, contracts, trade secrets) and should be excluded from automation 3. Which categories are, by contrast, boring and repetitive — i.e. the ideal candidate for a first routine 4. A suggestion for which label or filter to use so the routine only sees that third group Don't send anything, don't label anything, don't delete anything. Just write it up for me as a table.
What belongs in the rules
I'm attaching twenty of my sent emails from the last three months
(ten to clients, ten to colleagues).
Derive from them a style manual for my writing that I'll use as
standing rules for automated drafts. I want:
- how I greet and sign off, separately for clients and for colleagues
- typical reply length (sentences, paragraphs) by type of recipient
- phrases I use repeatedly — quote them verbatim
- what I avoid (what's never in my emails)
- how I phrase a decline, how I offer a time slot, how I ask for
more detail
- where I'm inconsistent and should settle on one variant
The output should be a finished set of rules written in the second
person ("write like this"), at most one page, no intro and no
compliments.Instructions for the first routine
Every weekday at 6:30, go through my messages from the last 24 hours that have the label [Routine]. Split them into three groups: A) needs my reply B) FYI only C) newsletter or automated message, nothing needed For every message in group A, write one line: sender — what it's about — what they need from me — how urgent it is (today / this week / can wait). For groups B and C, just count them and list the senders. Don't label anything, don't move anything, don't delete anything, and don't create any drafts yet. The output is just an overview.
When it's time for the next step
Addition to the instructions: for messages in group A, also prepare a reply draft following the rules in this project. - Write in my tone and with my signature, length depending on the type of recipient. - If a message asks about a date, check my calendar for the next 10 business days and offer two specific open times; respect my focus blocks and don't offer a slot inside them. - If you don't have enough information in the source material to reply, create the draft anyway, but instead of guessing, put a line at the top saying MISSING: [what I need to know]. - Never send anything. Save everything strictly as a draft. - Flag drafts for emails involving money, a contract, or a complaint with the word CAUTION on the first line — I'll review those first.
Evening summary of promises (17:30, weekdays)
Every weekday at 17:30, go through today's sent and received mail and today's calendar. Return four lists: 1. WHAT I PROMISED — every commitment I made in an email today. Format: to whom — what — by when (if no date was given, write date unspecified). Also look for indirect phrasing like "I'll take a look," "I'll send it over," "I'll follow up." 2. WHAT WAS PROMISED TO ME — the same from the other side, including when it was supposed to arrive. 3. WHAT WENT UNANSWERED — today's messages that ask for something and nobody responded to. 4. SUGGESTED TO-DOS — turn points 1 and 3 into a to-do list with a deadline. Flag it as awaiting approval; don't create it anywhere. If you're not sure whether something was a promise or just a pleasantry, include it and add a question mark. Better to have one extra than to miss one.
Follow-up watchdog (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00)
Every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00, find conversations where I wrote the last message and the other side hasn't replied for more than [5] business days. Exclude: newsletters, automated messages, messages like "thanks" and "ok," internal threads where I'm not expecting a reply, and conversations with the label [No follow-up]. For each conversation, list: - who I wrote to, when, and how many business days of silence - what it's about in one sentence - what exactly I'm waiting for (a decision, materials, a payment, a date) - how urgent it is (blocking my work / pushing back a deadline / nothing critical) For the three most urgent, prepare a draft of a polite follow-up: short, three to five sentences, no reproach, with a specific question at the end and a proposed date. Save as a draft, don't send.
Weekly overview (Friday 15:00)
Every Friday at 15:00, prepare a weekly overview from my mail and calendar for the past 7 days and my calendar for the next 7 days. Structure: 1. DONE — what got wrapped up this week (based on mail and meetings), 8 bullets maximum 2. PENDING — open items; for each, note how long it's been open and who it's waiting on 3. DRAGGING — anything open for more than [3] weeks; for each, write one sentence on why you think it isn't moving 4. NEXT WEEK — how many meeting hours I have, how many open blocks, which day has no stretch of uninterrupted work time 5. THREE THINGS THAT SHOULD HAPPEN NEXT WEEK — a proposed set of priorities with reasoning, not just a list Be matter-of-fact, no cheerleading. If something's off, say so.
Quarterly review
I'm attaching the instructions for all my current routines, plus a description of what I actually do with their output: [paste the routines' instructions, and for each one a sentence on how often you actually use something from it] Give me a review: 1. Which two routines overlap — reporting me the same thing twice? 2. Which instructions are so broad that the routine inevitably returns noise? For each, suggest a concrete way to narrow it (scope, label, an item cap). 3. Which routines, based on their description, don't change anything and should be turned off? 4. What in my day isn't covered, where a routine would make sense? 5. Rewrite the instructions for the worst one, the way it should look. Be ruthless on point 3 — I don't want to keep routines around "just in case."
Level 3: dissecting a specific failure
Here are my routine's instructions, and here's its output from [date], which was wrong. I'll explain what specifically didn't add up. Routine instructions: [paste the full instructions] Output: [paste the output] What was wrong: [e.g. it filed three emails as "needs a reply" when they were actually automated notifications; on two drafts it invented a date that isn't on my calendar] Do three things: 1. Determine what caused it — a missing rule, too broad a scope, ambiguous wording in the instructions, or missing context 2. Rewrite the routine's instructions so this doesn't happen again; list the changes separately as "what I changed and why" 3. Write three test cases — specific messages I can use to tell whether the fix worked Don't apologize and don't give generic advice — I want a concrete rewrite.
How to verify what a routine is allowed to do
You are a security reviewer for automations. I'm attaching the instructions for a routine that has access to my mail and calendar. [paste the routine's instructions] Go through it and return: 1. All actions the routine is ALLOWED to take under this text — including ones not spelled out explicitly but not forbidden by the instructions either 2. Worst case: what happens if the model interprets one sentence in the worst possible way 3. Which data in the instructions or in the output is sensitive and shouldn't be there 4. Specific sentences I should add to the instructions to narrow the scope Don't evaluate whether the routine is useful. I only care about the scope of its permissions.