Essential Prompt Templates Library

Good prompts share common patterns. Rather than starting from scratch every time, experienced AI users build libraries of templates they can adapt for specific situations. This resource provides tested templates across common categories, ready for you to customize and use immediately.

How to Use These Templates

Each template uses bracketed placeholders like [topic] or [target audience] to indicate where you should insert your specific information. The structure, tone markers, and output specifications are designed based on what works well across many use cases. Adapt freely—these are starting points, not rigid formulas.

Writing Templates

Blog Post Template

Writing blog posts is one of the most common AI use cases, and this template helps ensure you get structured, complete content rather than vague outlines.

"Write a [word count]-word blog post about [topic] for [target audience]. The tone should be [formal/casual/professional]. Structure the post with an engaging hook that draws readers in, followed by [number] main points with concrete examples and supporting details for each, practical takeaways that readers can apply immediately, and a compelling conclusion that reinforces the key message. Use subheadings to break up the content and make it scannable."

The key elements here are the explicit word count (which prevents both too-brief and overly long responses), the audience specification (which shapes vocabulary and assumed knowledge level), and the structural requirements (which ensure completeness).

Professional Email Template

Email is where many professionals first experience AI productivity gains. This template handles the most common business writing need.

"Write a [type: professional/friendly/persuasive/apologetic] email to [recipient description] about [subject]. The email should convey these key points: [Point 1], [Point 2], [additional points]. Context that might be relevant: [any background information, prior conversations, or relationship context]. Keep the tone appropriate for [relationship type] and aim for [brief/moderate/detailed] length."

Including context about the relationship and prior conversations helps the AI calibrate formality and tone. Specifying email length prevents AI's tendency toward over-explanation.

Social Media Content Template

Social media requires adapting to platform-specific constraints and conventions. This template handles the key variables.

"Create [number] posts for [platform: Twitter/LinkedIn/Instagram/Facebook] about [topic]. Each post should be [character limit] characters or less, include relevant hashtags appropriate for [platform], have a clear call to action, and match a [brand voice description] tone. For Instagram, include suggestions for accompanying image concepts."

The platform specification matters because LinkedIn posts differ dramatically from tweets in length, formality, and hashtag conventions. Calling out the differences explicitly improves results.

Analysis Templates

Document Summary Template

Summarizing documents—articles, reports, meeting transcripts—is a high-value AI application. Structure your request to get genuinely useful output.

"Please summarize the following document. Provide: an executive summary of 2-3 sentences capturing the main point, a bullet list of key points in order of importance, any important details or nuances I shouldn't miss, and any concerns, gaps, or questions the document raises but doesn't address. Here's the document: [paste content]"

Asking for both high-level summary and specific details ensures you don't miss important nuances. The prompt for concerns and gaps leverages AI's ability to identify what might be missing.

Competitor Analysis Template

Strategic analysis requires guiding AI toward business-relevant insights rather than generic observations.

"Analyze [competitor name] based on the information I'll provide. Evaluate their strengths and weaknesses (with specific evidence), their unique value proposition and how it differs from ours, their apparent target market and positioning, potential threats they pose to our business, and opportunities we could exploit based on gaps in their offering. Here's the information I've gathered: [paste data, notes, or observations]"

The comparison frame (how it differs from ours, threats to our business) produces more actionable analysis than asking for generic evaluation.

Coding Templates

Code Review Template

AI code review catches different issues than human review and works as a useful complement.

"Please review this code for: bugs and logical errors that could cause incorrect behavior, security vulnerabilities (injection, authentication, data exposure), performance issues and optimization opportunities, code style and adherence to [language] best practices, and specific suggestions for improvement with explanations. Here's the code: [paste code]"

Specifying the categories you want reviewed produces more thorough analysis than asking for a general review.

Documentation Template

Documentation is tedious for humans but straightforward for AI, making it a high-leverage use case.

"Create comprehensive documentation for this code including: an overview of what this code does and its purpose, description of parameters/inputs and return values/outputs, usage examples showing common cases, notes on edge cases and limitations to be aware of. Write for an audience of [junior developers/senior engineers/non-technical stakeholders]. Here's the code: [paste code]"

The audience specification dramatically affects the documentation produced—junior developer documentation explains fundamentals, while senior engineer documentation focuses on API contracts and integration patterns.

Business Templates

Meeting Summary Template

Extracting action items and decisions from meeting notes is a perfect AI task—pattern matching with structured output.

"Summarize this meeting transcript, extracting: key decisions that were made (with any noted rationale), action items with owners and deadlines where discussed, open questions that weren't resolved, and recommended next steps. Format action items as a checklist I can copy directly into our task tracker. Here's the transcript: [paste transcript]"

The checklist formatting request produces output that's immediately usable rather than requiring reformatting.

Strategic Decision Analysis Template

For important decisions, AI can help structure thinking and identify blind spots.

"Help me analyze this strategic decision: [describe the decision]. Please evaluate: pros and cons with relative weights, key risks and possible mitigations for each, resource requirements (time, money, people, attention), expected outcomes in best, likely, and worst cases, and alternative approaches worth considering. Note any assumptions you're making that I should verify."

Asking for explicit assumptions helps identify where the analysis might be wrong if your situation differs from what AI assumed.

Making These Templates Work for You

The templates above are starting points. As you use them, note what produces good results and what needs adjustment for your specific context. Build your own library of templates tuned to your recurring tasks, your preferred output formats, and your domain's specific vocabulary. The best prompts are the ones refined through actual use.