OperationsStarter

Turn a checklist into a procedure someone can follow

Expands a list of steps into a procedure with the judgement written down, and asks about the steps that are ambiguous.

Works with Claude, ChatGPT, GeminiUpdated 2026-09-27

When to use it

Use this on a checklist that works for the person who wrote it and nobody else. The gap is always the unwritten judgement between steps, so this asks about it rather than inventing it.

Opening this in Claude or ChatGPT sends the prompt with its {{PLACEHOLDERS}} still in it. Replace them with your own details before you send, or copy the prompt and fill them in first.

Here is the checklist:

<checklist>
{{CHECKLIST}}
</checklist>

Who will follow it:
{{ROLE}}

Rewrite it as a procedure that person could follow on their first day.

For each step:

- The action, in the imperative. Name the system, screen or document.
- How to tell it worked.
- What to do if it did not, where that is obvious from the checklist.

Rules:

- Do not invent a step that is not implied by the checklist. If two steps clearly have something between them, put the gap in the QUESTIONS list instead of filling it.
- Where a step needs a judgement call, say what the call is and what the options are. Do not reduce it to "use your judgement".
- Split any step that contains an "and" doing two different things.

End with two lists:

- QUESTIONS: what you need answered to finish the procedure. Name the step each question belongs to.
- DECISIONS THIS PROCEDURE CANNOT MAKE: anything that should be escalated rather than decided by the person following it.

End of prompt: Turn a checklist into a procedure someone can follow

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