25 Copy-Paste Prompts That Make AI Agents Genuinely Useful

Draft an email to [person] about [situation]. Tone: warm but direct. It must (1) acknowledge their last message, (2) clearly say [the hard thing], (3) end with one concrete next step. Under 150 words. Then show a 50-word version.

Rewrite this so a human wrote it. Kill buzzwords, passive voice, and throat-clearing. Keep all facts. Halve the length, then list what you removed and why:

[paste text]

Here's the job posting: [paste]. Here's my experience: [paste resume bullets]. Write a cover letter that maps my 3 strongest matches to their 3 biggest needs. No "I am writing to express my interest." Open with a claim I can defend in an interview.

I need to push back on [decision] with [person senior to me]. Draft a message that (1) steelmans their position first, (2) raises my concern with one concrete example, (3) proposes an experiment instead of a verdict. Professional, zero passive aggression.

Interview me with 6 questions to extract what's interesting about my work, then write three bios from my answers: 1 sentence, 50 words, and 150 words. Confident but allergic to self-importance.

Here's the error, the code, and what I expected: [paste all three]. Before proposing any fix: explain the actual cause in plain English. Then give the minimal fix, then (separately) the proper fix if they differ. Flag anything nearby that will break next.

Review this function like a senior engineer who cares: correctness first, then edge cases, then readability. Rate severity (blocker / should-fix / nit). Don't rewrite it wholesale — show minimal diffs:

[paste code]

Explain what this code does to a competent developer who's new to this codebase: first the one-paragraph summary, then line-by-line for the tricky parts only. End with: what would surprise a maintainer?

[paste code]

Write a [regex/SQL query] that [exact requirement]. Then prove it: show it running against 5 test cases, including 2 designed to break it. If any fail, fix and re-run before answering.

Refactor this for readability without changing behavior. List every behavioral assumption you're relying on. If any assumption is risky, stop and ask me first:

[paste code]

I'm meeting [person/company] tomorrow about [topic]. Build me a one-page brief: 5 things I must know, what changed in their world in the last 12 months, 3 smart questions to ask, and 1 landmine to avoid. Mark anything you're unsure about.

Compare [option A] vs [option B] for [my specific situation]. Build the criteria list first and ask me to confirm it. Then score both, show your reasoning per criterion, and tell me which single criterion should dominate my decision.

I believe [position]. Argue the opposite as compellingly as an informed, good-faith expert would. Then list the 3 pieces of evidence that would most change my mind, and where I'd find them.

Here's my plan: [paste]. Don't praise it. List the failure modes in order of (probability × damage), the assumption I'm most likely wrong about, and the cheapest test that would expose it within a week.

Teach me [topic] from first principles. Rules: one concept at a time, check my understanding with a question before moving on, use analogies from [domain I know], and tell me when something is a simplification.

My exam on [subject] is [date]. Quiz me with escalating difficulty. When I'm wrong: explain why from first principles, then re-test the same concept disguised differently 3 questions later. Track my weak spots and summarize them at the end.

Summarize this for three audiences: my boss (3 bullets, decisions only), me (one page, including methods and caveats), and a curious teenager (one paragraph). Flag the single most load-bearing claim:

[paste text]

Here's everything on my plate: [brain dump]. Build my week. Constraints: deep work before noon, gym ×3, [fixed commitments]. Rule: every task gets a day and a duration, or it gets explicitly cut. Show the cut list — don't hide it.

I want to [goal] by [date]. Work backwards: monthly milestones, then this week's 3 actions, then today's first 25-minute step. Then tell me the most likely reason I'll quit in week 3, and design around it.

Plan [N] days in [city] for [group + ages]. Constraints: [budget], [diet], max 90 minutes per museum, downtime 2–4pm daily. Group by neighborhood to minimize transit. For each day: a plan A and a rainy plan B.

Generate 20 names for [thing]. Then be your own harshest critic: kill 15 of them and tell me why, in one line each. For the surviving 5: check pronounceability, spelling-over-the-phone, and what each one accidentally implies.

Here's my topic: [topic]. Write 10 opening lines for [format — post/video/talk]: 3 contrarian, 3 story-led, 2 data-led, 2 questions. No clickbait I can't cash. Mark which one you'd bet on and why.

Team goal: launch [product] on [date]. Researcher — who's the buyer and what nearly-identical thing failed before? Strategist — positioning and the one channel we'll win. Writer — landing page copy + launch email from that strategy. Planner — 3-week calendar, working backwards. Build on each other; don't repeat each other.

Team goal: should I [big decision]? Analyst — lay out the evidence both ways. Skeptic — attack the optimistic case hard. Planner — assuming yes, what do the first 30 days look like? Then together: give me the 3 questions that actually decide this.

Team goal: one month of content about [topic] for [audience]. Brainstormer — 12 angles, no duplicates. Writer — turn the best 4 into drafts in my voice (sample attached). Planner — sequence all 12 with dates and formats. Flag the 2 ideas most likely to flop, and why.