PromptBeginnerPrompting

Research and summarising prompts

Copy-ready prompts for turning long material into something you can act on, with the structure that makes the result checkable.

2 min read

These are structured so that the answer is checkable: you can look at the document and see whether a row is missing. That property matters more than any phrasing trick, because it converts "does this look right" into "is this right".

How to adapt them

Replace every angle-bracket placeholder. A prompt left with <goal> in it produces an answer about a goal the model invented.
Keep the "do not infer" line. It is the difference between an extract and a plausible-sounding reconstruction.
Delimit pasted material. The triple quotes are not decoration; they mark where your instructions end and untrusted text begins. Text you paste can contain instructions of its own, and marking the boundary makes it far less likely they get followed.

When the answer is still wrong

If a table comes back with rows that are not in the document, that is a signal about the material; usually it is too long for one pass. Split it and run the extract per part, then merge your own extracted rows rather than the raw document.

What changes

Nothing here depends on a model version, which is deliberate. Re-test the structured ones after a major model update, since strictness about output format does shift between releases.

Copy-ready prompts

4 prompts. Open one to read it, or take the whole pack.

1Structured extract from a long documentYou have a document and need specific facts out of it, not an impression.

Read the document below and extract only the following, as a Markdown table:

| Item | Detail | Where it appears |

Rules:
- Include a row only if the document actually states it. Do not infer.
- If something I asked for is absent, add a row with "not stated".
- Quote exactly for anything in quotation marks.

Extract: every commitment, every date, and every named owner.

Document:
"""
<paste here>
"""

2Summary aimed at a specific readerThe summary is for someone else, and length and register matter.

Summarise the material below for this reader:

- Who they are: <role>
- What they already know: <background>
- What they need to decide or do after reading: <decision>
- Length: <n> sentences, no headings, no bullet points

Lead with the part that affects their decision. Leave out anything that
does not.

Material:
"""
<paste here>
"""

3Compare sources and surface disagreementYou have two or more accounts of the same thing and need to know where they conflict.

Below are <n> separate sources on the same subject, each delimited and
labelled.

Produce:
1. A list of claims all sources agree on.
2. A list of claims where sources disagree; state each side and which
   source it came from.
3. A list of claims that appear in only one source.

Do not resolve the disagreements or say which is right. Do not add
anything that is not in the sources.

Sources:
"""
<paste here>
"""

4Reading list triageYou have more to read than time, and need to know what deserves the time.

Here is a list of titles with short abstracts. My goal is: <goal>.

For each item give me one line in this format:

<title>, READ / SKIM / SKIP, <reason in under 15 words>

Be decisive: at most a third of the list may be READ. Base the call only
on the abstract; if the abstract is too thin to judge, say SKIM.

List:
"""
<paste here>
"""

Last checked against xAI’s own pages on 2026-08-20. Grok changes quickly; anything version-specific should be confirmed upstream before you rely on it.

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