Prompts
Turn a long document into a one-page brief
Ten points, each tied to the page it came from and carrying its own numbers and dates, plus what the document does not say. Written so you can check any line against the original in seconds.
What may go into it: Only after identifying details are removed
The prompt
Answer in [ANSWER LANGUAGE], even if the material below is in another language. Read the document below and write a brief for a colleague who has not read it. Rules: 1. Use only what is in the document. Add nothing from your own knowledge. If you are not sure whether something is in it, leave it out. 2. Every point must name the page, article or section it comes from. 3. Quote the exact wording for anything that could be disputed. 4. Copy every number and date in the digit form the document uses, and flag it where the document mixes digits: ١٢٣ alongside 123. 5. Do not soften and do not dramatise. Give me, in this order: A. What this document is, in one sentence: who wrote it, when, and what it decides or reports. B. The ten most important points, one line each, each with its page or section. Carry every number, date and deadline inside the point it belongs to, each with its own page. C. What the document does NOT say that a reader would expect it to. D. Three questions this document leaves open. Document: [PASTE THE DOCUMENT]
Opens a new chat in that tool with this prompt already typed in. Fill in every box first, and read the line at the top about what may go into it.
15 minutes · Gives you short sections · Works on a phone · How much to paste at once: Paste about 15 pages at a time. If section D never arrives, or the tenth point breaks off in the middle, the document was too long: split it, brief each part, then brief the briefs.
Read the answer against the checks below before you use it in anything that leaves your organisation.
What to fill in
- [ANSWER LANGUAGE]: the language you need the brief in, for example Arabic, Kurdish Sorani or English. The document can stay in another language.
- [PASTE THE DOCUMENT]. If it is long, paste it in parts and ask for a brief per part, then ask for one brief of the briefs.
- Remove names and identifying details first unless the document is already public.
Before you trust the answer
- Pick three points at random and find them in the original. If one is not there, discard the whole brief and start again with a smaller piece.
- Check every number and date in section B against the page it names. A model that summarises well still copies figures wrong.
- Section C is the useful one. Read it before section B.
When it goes wrong
It will write a point that reads exactly like the document and put a page number beside it that has nothing of the kind on it.
Tools this is written for
Written 2026-09-01Nobody has run this prompt in this language yet, so read the answer twice.
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Only approved or redacted sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
Where to go next
- The task this belongs toMaking sense of large document sets
- Staying safeClassify the material first
Written forResearcher or analystDirector or leadershipLegal work and accountability