# Six prompts: from an idea to a buildable brief

Use these in order. Keep your answers and decisions in one document. You can paste the document into the next step. Review the result yourself; a useful brief does not prove that the resulting implementation is correct or secure.

## 01. Define the job

Help me define the job this AI assistant should do. Establish who will use it, the task they are trying to complete, the current process and a concrete useful outcome. Separate what I have told you from assumptions. Do not propose tools or architecture yet.

## 02. Find the gaps

Read the current brief. Ask me one question at a time about decisions that materially change the scope. Start with the most consequential unknown. Do not silently invent requirements or suggest a solution before the important gaps are resolved.

## 03. Set the boundaries

Using the agreed brief, list the inputs, outputs and systems involved. For each action, distinguish read access, draft creation and external changes. Identify which actions require human approval, who gives that approval and what data the assistant must not access. Mark unresolved access requirements.

## 04. Map the flow

Map one realistic task from trigger to completion. Include missing data, unavailable systems, duplicate requests, rejected approvals and a handoff to a person. For each failure, describe what the user sees and what the system may safely do next. Flag assumptions.

## 05. Define the checks

Write realistic acceptance scenarios for the agreed workflow. Include the normal path and the important failures. For each scenario, give the starting state, user action and observable expected outcome. Include access boundaries and duplicate external actions. Do not claim these tests have been run.

## 06. Build the brief

Combine the agreed decisions into one implementation brief: user and goal, scope, exclusions, inputs and outputs, systems and access, workflow, approval boundaries, failure handling and acceptance checks. Preserve the decisions already made. End with unresolved questions and assumptions that still need human confirmation. Do not fill gaps with invented facts.