Prompt: Turn Rough Notes into a Clear How-To Guide

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What to paste: one message containing your GUIDE GOAL (one sentence), READER PROFILE (who follows the steps, their skill level, assumed tools), RAW STEP NOTES (your unedited notes, mark uncertain lines with a question mark), and KNOWN CONSTRAINTS (time, environment, safety, format).

Where: any ordinary AI chat that accepts text. No terminal or API setup is needed.

How to check the output: every numbered step should trace to a line in your notes; each step shows Action, Input, Expected result and Flags; gaps carry [NEEDS DETAIL: ...]; risk or prerequisites carry [CHECK FIRST: ...]; and the Missing-Information Checklist repeats each flag once as a question you must answer. If a step appears that you never wrote, the draft failed its own rule.

This is an original TokRepo prompt (CC BY 4.0), not a third-party tool. It prepares a draft only: it cannot test your steps, open your files or publish anything. Source reviewed; runtime not tested.

What it does

Instead of asking a chat model to "write a guide" — which invites invented tools, paths and success metrics — this prompt locks the model to your text. It reorders steps only when your order clearly conflicts with the stated goal, otherwise keeps your order and notes the doubt. It converts question-marked lines into flagged open questions rather than confident instructions.

The output is Markdown with these sections: Guide Goal, Reader and Assumptions, Before You Start, Steps, Term Notes, Missing-Information Checklist. The checklist is the working part: it becomes your list of things to resolve before showing the guide to anyone.

Limits and permissions

• The model cannot verify whether the process works; only you can.
• It must not invent steps, minutes, file paths, tool names or success metrics.
• Definitions stay as [DEFINE: ] unless you supplied the meaning.
• Nothing is published or sent anywhere by the prompt; you control what you share.
• Treat your notes as private input and remove credentials before pasting.
• Responses are capped around 1200 words unless the checklist itself needs more.

FAQ

What if I only have a few messy lines? Send them anyway. Short notes produce a short guide plus a longer checklist, which is exactly the gaps you should close first.

What if the notes are empty? The prompt returns only: [NO NOTES RECEIVED: please paste your steps and guide goal]. Nothing else is generated.

How much may I rewrite afterwards? As much as you like — but resolve the [DEFINE: ...] and [NEEDS DETAIL: ...] items first, or the rewrite reintroduces the guessing the prompt was built to prevent.

Complete reusable prompt

You are a technical-writing assistant. I will paste my own rough notes about a process, and you will turn them into a clear how-to guide without inventing any steps, tools, or outcomes. Work only from the text I provide; do not use outside knowledge to fill blanks.

Inputs I will supply (all in one message):

1. GUIDE GOAL: one sentence naming the final outcome the reader should reach.
2. READER PROFILE: who will follow the steps, their skill level, any assumed tools or access.
3. RAW STEP NOTES: my unedited sequence notes, including fragments, half-sentences, and uncertain lines. Mark any uncertain line with a question mark at its end.
4. KNOWN CONSTRAINTS: any limits (time, environment, safety, format) I want visible.

Your tasks: A. Reorder the notes into a logical numbered procedure only when the original order clearly conflicts with the stated goal. If reordering is uncertain, keep the original order and note the question. B. For each step, write: a short imperative title, the action in one or two sentences, the input needed, and the expected result. Do not add a result I did not state or imply in the notes. C. Flag every step that lacks detail with the tag [NEEDS DETAIL: ]. Missing detail includes: unclear action, missing starting condition, missing expected output, undefined term, or missing tool/location. D. Add warning flags [CHECK FIRST: ] only where the notes themselves mention risk, a prerequisite, or a dependency. E. Extract a glossary of any terms a beginner would not know, but only if the term appears in the notes. Leave the definition as [DEFINE: ] if I did not supply meaning. F. Produce a final Missing-Information Checklist listing every flagged item as a direct question I must answer.

Output format (Markdown):

Steps

Action: ... Input: ... Expected result: ... Flags: ...

Missing-Information Checklist

Rules:

• Never invent a step, number of minutes, file path, tool name, or success metric.
• Never turn a question mark note into a confident instruction.
• Keep the whole response under 1200 words unless the checklist alone requires more.
• If RAW STEP NOTES is empty or absent, output only this line and stop: [NO NOTES RECEIVED: please paste your steps and guide goal].

Boundaries: You are preparing a draft guide only. You cannot test the steps, access my files, publish anything, or verify whether the process works. All flags and checklist items must be resolved by me before the guide is shared or used.

Review checks before you finish:

1. Confirm every numbered step traces to at least one line in my raw notes.
2. Confirm every quoted fragment from my notes is clearly marked and not altered.
3. Confirm the glossary contains no terms absent from my notes.
4. Confirm the checklist repeats each flag exactly once.
5. Confirm you added no advice, warning, or detail not present in my inputs.

Example input (fictional): GUIDE GOAL: Prepare a home espresso machine for first use. READER PROFILE: Total beginner, has machine and manual only. RAW STEP NOTES: fill tank with water? run one cycle without coffee. wait for light. flush group head. discard water. check manual for descaling schedule. KNOWN CONSTRAINTS: No sink access at setup station.

Example output shape (partial):

1. Fill the water tank

Action: Fill the tank with water. Input: Water; tank. Expected result: Tank is full. Flags: [NEEDS DETAIL: how full?]

2. Run a rinse cycle

Action: Run one cycle without adding coffee. Input: Water in tank; power. Expected result: [NEEDS DETAIL: what should the machine do?] Flags: [CHECK FIRST: confirm manual's rinse instructions].

Example pass/fail checks on the fictional input: PASS if each step appears in the notes; FAIL if you invent a descaling time; FAIL if you remove the question mark from the tank-fill line without resolving it.

References and reuse

• ChatGPT release notes · Reviewed 2026-10-04

Original TokRepo prompt · CC BY 4.0. Reference documents retain their own rights.