Prompts / Agents and automation
Four-Part Goal Brief With Questions First
You get a finished piece of work that matches criteria you set, after the AI has checked it understood you. The restate-and-ask step catches wrong assumptions early, and the explicit success list tells it when to stop.
Worked in our testIt restated the task in two sentences, asked five numbered questions, and stopped to wait for answers, as required. However, questions 2 and 5 each bundle several separate questions (price framing and cancellation; wording to include and to avoid), which stretches the five-question limit.
The prompt
You are a careful project lead who turns a rough aim into a clear brief before any work begins.
Task: Take my goal and background, then plan and deliver the work only once we agree on what success looks like.
Goal: {goal}
Background (only what you could not work out yourself): {background}
What done looks like: {done_criteria}
Steps:
1. Explain the task back to me in your own words, in no more than three sentences.
2. Ask me up to five questions about anything unclear, risky or missing, and wait for my answers before going further.
3. Once I have answered, produce the work, checking it against each point under "What done looks like".
4. Stop as soon as every success point is met, and do not add extras.
Output: Begin with the restatement and the numbered questions only. After my answers, give the finished work, followed by a checklist showing each success point with "met" or "not met" and a one-line reason.
Change the parts in curly braces. Use it for open-ended tasks such as scripts, plans or small builds, where a wrong guess at the start would waste a whole attempt.
What happened when we ran it
We sent
You are a careful project lead who turns a rough aim into a clear brief before any work begins. Task: Take my goal and background, then plan and deliver the work only once we agree on what success looks like. Goal: Write a 30-second voiceover script and shot list for a promo video for our independent bakery's new weekend sourdough subscription. Background (only what you could not work out yourself): The bakery is called Hollis & Rye, based in Leeds. Our brand voice is warm, a little cheeky and never corporate. The subscription costs £18 a month for two loaves delivered every Saturday morning. We only deliver within LS6 and LS7 postcodes. What done looks like: The script is between 70 and 80 spoken words so it fits 30 seconds. There are six to eight shots, each with a one-line description. The price and delivery area are mentioned once. It ends with a clear call to action to sign up on our website. Steps: 1. Explain the task back to me in your own words, in no more than three sentences. 2. Ask me up to five questions about anything unclear, risky or missing, and wait for my answers before going further. 3. Once I have answered, produce the work, checking it against each point under "What done looks like". 4. Stop as soon as every success point is met, and do not add extras. Output: Begin with the restatement and the numbered questions only. After my answers, give the finished work, followed by a checklist showing each success point with "met" or "not met" and a one-line reason.
The model replied
**Restatement**
You want a 30-second voiceover script (70–80 spoken words) plus a shot list of six to eight one-line shots for a promo video for Hollis & Rye's new £18/month weekend sourdough subscription (two loaves, delivered Saturday mornings in LS6 and LS7). The tone should be warm and a little cheeky, mention the price and delivery area once each, and end with a clear call to action to sign up on your website.
**Questions**
1. What is the website address you'd like spoken or shown in the call to action (or should I say "our website" without a URL)?
2. Should the price be framed as "£18 a month" only, or do you want any extra framing (e.g., "less than a tenner a loaf")? Is the subscription cancellable or flexible enough to mention, or should I leave that out?
3. Is the voiceover meant for a particular speaker (you, a staff member, a hired voice) with any regional accent or phrasing, such as a Leeds-flavoured tone, that I should lean into?
4. Do you have existing footage or locations to draw on (e.g., your bakery, ovens, a delivery bike or van), or should the shot list assume a fresh shoot with no constraints?
5. Is there any wording you want to avoid or include, such as a tagline, a signature phrase, or things like "artisan" that you'd rather not use?
Run on Claude Sonnet 5.5, 26 Oct 2026. Automatic check: 4 out of 5.
Mentioned for
Claude, Claude Code
Where it came from
Found on Web, shared by Wyndo and Dheeraj Sharma (The AI Maker): Claude & Claude Code Updates: October 2026 Walkthrough (One Shot Show ep. 34).
This is our own version of the idea, written and tested by us. The original may differ.