Getting useful AI help
Summarize a long AI conversation for the next task
Ask the AI for a short handoff note that carries forward only what the next task needs: the goal, verified facts, your decisions, rejected options and the next request. Leave the rest of the conversation behind.
A text to start with
Summarize our conversation about [topic] so I can start a new task from it. Include: my goal; facts I have confirmed, listed separately from your suggestions; decisions I made; options I rejected and why; and my next request: [next request]. Mark anything that was only a suggestion as tentative. Leave out anything outdated or corrected.
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Thread handoff note
Goal: [ ] Date of this note: [ ] Verified facts, with how each was verified: 1. [ ] 2. [ ] Decisions I made: 1. [ ] Date: [ ] 2. [ ] Date: [ ] Tentative suggestions, not yet decided: [ ] Rejected options and reasons: [ ] Facts that changed during the conversation: [ ] Open questions: [ ] Next request: [ ]
Stale facts and false decisions
Long threads collect corrections, so check that the summary uses the latest version of every fact and not the first one stated. Check especially for a tentative suggestion recorded as something you decided. Read the decisions section and confirm you made each one. Check that rejected options carry their reasons, or the next task may bring them back. Move any fact that was never verified out of the confirmed list.
Ask another agent to check the result
Compare this handoff note with the full conversation. Remove any fact that was later corrected or is no longer current. Flag every item listed as a decision that was only a suggestion from the AI and was never accepted by me.
Use the note to start clean
Read the note yourself and correct anything that no longer matches your situation. Paste it at the top of the new conversation, followed by your next request, and keep a copy where you can find it. When the new task changes a fact or a decision, update the note instead of returning to the old thread.