Build with AI · Practical guide

Turn a repeated task into a one-page procedure

Beginner · Published 2026-10-16 · Reviewed 2026-10-05

Tools: Multi-tool
Audience: People getting started with AI
Topic: Build with AI

You’ll finish with: a short procedure another person can follow and test.

A procedure is useful when someone can follow it on an ordinary Tuesday without calling its author. Write the trigger, inputs, steps and checks. Leave the inspirational opening paragraph for another document.

Set up

Allow 25 minutes. Use a task you can describe from experience, or the practice task below. A text editor and chat assistant are enough.

Download this guide’s practice sheet ↓

Try this example

FICTIONAL PRACTICE MATERIAL
Task: prepare weekly attendance summary. Input: CSV with session_id and attendee_id. Count unique attendees per session. Blank attendee IDs go to a review list. Output: session totals and exceptions.

Do the task

Describe one normal run before asking AI to organise it.
Include the blank-ID exception and what counts as finished.
Give the procedure to a colleague with a small test file and note where they need help.

Your reusable prompt

Write a one-page procedure for this attendance summary. Include trigger, input columns, counting rule, blank-ID handling, output files and final check. Do not introduce new software.

PRACTICE INPUT
Task: prepare weekly attendance summary. Input: CSV with session_id and attendee_id. Count unique attendees per session. Blank attendee IDs go to a review list. Output: session totals and exceptions.

Refine your result

Add a worked case: session A has IDs 01, 01, 02 and one blank. Explain how duplicates and the blank are handled.

Check the result

Session A should have two unique known attendees and one blank row for review. Counting rows would produce the wrong result.

Save and reuse

Save attendance-procedure.md with its test case and a named maintainer. Revise it when the input format changes.

Sources and notes

Writing clear prompts Checked 2026-10-05

The practice input and teaching prompt are original 5HO material. Examples are fictional; they are not screenshots or claims of a completed real-world task.
Official documentation supports the relevant product concepts. Setup availability depends on your account; where a guide offers a fallback, it does not prove the connected capability worked.