ChatGPT Projects prompts that keep the files and the job together
Pin what you own, write project instructions that ChatGPT will use, ask questions against the pack, and split a Project when the job changes. Official Projects only.
In short: This page contains 15 copy-paste ready prompts, organized into 5 categories with a description and pro tip for each. The first 5 prompts are free instantly, no signup needed. Hand-curated and tested by the AI Academy team.
Stand up the Project
3 promptsProject brief
1/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT writes a Project name, purpose, pin list, and 4 starter questions from [FILE LIST]. Create the Project, then pin only files you listed.
Help me open a ChatGPT Project. Job: [JOB]. Lasts: [WEEKS]. Files I have: [FILE LIST]. Write: project name, one-paragraph purpose, files to pin now, files to keep out, and 4 starter questions. Do not invent a file.
Pro tip: If a file is not ready, leave it out. An old deck in the Project will win arguments it should lose.
Project vs Custom GPT
2/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT picks Project or Custom GPT in a 6-row table from [JOB] and [WHO]. Build that one. Do not build both for the same job.
I cannot decide between a ChatGPT Project and a Custom GPT. Job: [JOB]. Users: [WHO]. Recurring?: [YES/NO]. Give a 6-row table: criterion, pick Project or GPT, why. Use only what I wrote. No new products.
Pro tip: Projects are a pile of files plus a thread. GPTs are a product you share. If you need share, start with a GPT.
Instructions for this Project only
3/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT writes 250-word Project instructions that force [VERIFY] on missing facts. Paste them into the Project. Pin [FILES] before the first question.
Write ChatGPT Project instructions for [JOB]. Inputs I will pin: [FILES]. Output I want: [FORMAT]. Rule: use only pinned files, tag missing facts [VERIFY], never invent a number. 250 words.
Pro tip: Project instructions lose to a long chat. Re-paste the rule when the thread gets sloppy.
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Ask the pack
3 promptsGrounded brief
4/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT writes a brief on [QUESTION] with file-name cites and [VERIFY] on silence. Keep the brief if every cite is a file you pinned.
Using only files in this Project, write a [N]-page brief on [QUESTION]. Cite file name and section. If a file is silent, write [VERIFY] and stop. Do not use outside knowledge for facts.
Pro tip: Ask for the file name in every paragraph. Without it, you cannot tell a cite from a guess.
Conflict table
5/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT tables conflicting claims on [TOPIC] across pinned files. You pick the source of truth. Do not let ChatGPT pick it silently.
These Project files disagree: I care about [TOPIC]. Build a table: claim, file A, file B, which is newer, what I should treat as source of truth. If dates are missing, write [VERIFY].
Pro tip: Put dates in file names (policy-2026-04.pdf). Projects cannot invent a date you never wrote.
What is not in the pack
6/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT lists 8 gaps for [JOB] and the file you should add. Collect those files. Do not ask ChatGPT to fill the gap from memory.
List 8 questions I will want answered for [JOB] that the current Project files cannot answer. For each: the question and the file I should add. Do not invent contents of a file I do not have.
Pro tip: This is how you stop a Project from becoming a yes-man with three PDFs.
Keep it clean
3 promptsFile hygiene pass
7/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT marks each Project file keep, merge, or remove. Delete what it marked remove after you glance at it. Do not add new files in this pass.
Here is my Project file list: [LIST]. Mark each keep, merge, or remove. Reason in 8 words. If two files overlap, say which one stays. Do not add files.
Pro tip: A Project with 40 dumps is a junk drawer. Cap pinned files at the ones you would defend in a meeting.
Weekly reset question
8/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT writes a Monday reset prompt for Project [NAME]. Paste [NOTES] each week. Archive the thread if the job changed.
Write a Monday prompt I can paste into Project [NAME]. It should: list decisions from last week I pasted as [NOTES], open questions, and files that look stale vs [TODAY]. No new strategy.
Pro tip: One standing Monday prompt beats a new Project every week for the same job.
When to split
9/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT says split or keep from [LIST OF JOBS] and names the new Projects. Split only if the source of truth is not shared.
I am using one ChatGPT Project for [LIST OF JOBS]. Tell me whether to split, and proposed Project names with file moves. If the jobs share a source of truth, keep one Project. Use only the list.
Pro tip: Two jobs, one number: keep one Project. Two jobs, two numbers: split before the model averages them.
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Handoff and risk
3 promptsTeammate readme
10/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT writes a 180-word Project readme from [NOTES]. Pin it as README.md in the Project. Tell [OWNER] they own updates.
Write a Project readme for [NAME]. Sections: job, pinned files, how to ask, what not to ask, who owns updates. 180 words from [NOTES] only.
Pro tip: If nobody owns the files, the Project will be stale by Friday.
Secret scan
11/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT flags secret types in [PASTE] and says pin or not. If it says do not pin, strip the secret and scan again.
Scan this text I almost pinned: [PASTE]. List any API keys, passwords, personal emails, or customer names. Say pin or do not pin. Do not repeat a full secret, only the type and a 4-char mask.
Pro tip: Projects are not a password manager. Treat pinned files as if the thread will be exported.
Close the Project
12/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT writes a 150-word close-out from [NOTES]. Archive the Project after you move the artifact. Do not leave dead Projects in the sidebar.
Write a close-out note for Project [NAME]. From [NOTES]: what we decided, which file is the artifact, what to archive, what to delete. 150 words. No new recommendations.
Pro tip: A dead Project still answers questions from old files. Close it or people will trust last quarter.
Worked asks
3 promptsMeeting pack
13/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT builds a one-page pack for [MEETING] with file cites and [VERIFY] gaps. Send it only after you add the real attendees.
Using only Project files, build a one-page meeting pack for [MEETING] on [DATE]. Sections: goal, 5 facts with file cites, 3 decisions, 3 [VERIFY] gaps. Do not invent attendees.
Pro tip: Put the decision list at the top. A pack that starts with background gets skipped.
Change log from files
14/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT writes a change log between the two pinned files. Keep rows you can point at in the files. Star the number moves.
Compare [FILE A] and [FILE B] in this Project. Write a change log: added, removed, numbers that moved. If a number has no source line, [VERIFY].
Pro tip: Name the two files. Compare file A to last quarter is how you get a mashup.
Blank-page killer
15/15✨ What it does
ChatGPT skeletons [DELIVERABLE] with a file under each header. Draft the sections that have a file. Leave [VERIFY] headers empty.
I have to write [DELIVERABLE] from this Project. Give me a skeleton with section headers and, under each, the file I should pull from. If no file fits a section, write [VERIFY] and skip the prose.
Pro tip: Empty [VERIFY] headers are the point. They show you what to collect, not what to invent.
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