How to write a request your bot gets right the first time Explainer

3 min read

You don't need special words to talk to a bot. A few plain habits, like saying the goal, giving the details and saying what "done" looks like, make the answer much better.

The short version

A bot can only work with what you tell it. A request like "do my email" leaves it guessing. A request like "Read my unread email from today and list the ones that need a reply, newest first" tells it exactly what to do. You don't need tech words or a special format. Plain sentences work best.

Four parts of a good request

1. The goal: what you want to end up with. "A list", "a draft reply", "a spreadsheet", "a yes or no".
2. The details: which items, dates, people or files. "From this week", "only orders over $50", "the sheet called Weekly Sales".
3. The shape of the answer: how you want it back. "Three bullet points", "a table with date, name and total", "one short paragraph".
4. The limits: what it must not do. "Don't send anything, just draft it", "don't change the original file".

You won't need all four every time. For a quick question, the goal is enough. For anything that touches your email, files or store, the limits matter most.

Before and after

• Vague: "Help with my calendar." Better: "List my meetings for tomorrow with start times, and tell me if any of them overlap."
• Vague: "Write a reply to that customer." Better: "Draft a friendly reply to the latest email from the customer asking about a late order. Say we're checking with the carrier and will update them by Friday. Don't send it."
• Vague: "Make a report." Better: "Make a Google Sheet of last week's orders with the date, customer name and total, sorted by date."

Give it the context it can't guess

The bot doesn't know what you know. If a word means something special to you, explain it once: "When I say the big order, I mean the one from the school district." If you'll need that again, ask the bot to remember it. See Memory.

One job at a time

A long request with many unrelated jobs is easier to get wrong. Break big work into steps: first "find the orders", then "make the sheet", then "draft the email". Check each result before you move on. Once a set of steps works well, you can save it as a skill so it's done the same way every time, or run it on a schedule with a routine.

When the answer isn't right

Don't start over. Reply in the same chat and say what to change, just like you would with a person: "Shorter, please", "Leave out the cancelled orders", "Use a table instead". The bot keeps the earlier part of the conversation in mind, so small corrections are usually all it takes.

Ask it to ask you

If you're not sure what details matter, say so: "Before you start, ask me any questions you need answered." This is a simple way to catch a misunderstanding before any work is done.

Where to go next

Put these habits to work with Reading and summarizing an inbox, or read Staying safe with AI bots for the limits worth adding to every request that sends, buys or deletes.