ChatGPTTemplate, 4 blanks to fill

Read the email thread below and write my reply to it. Thread (oldest first): [EMAIL THREAD] My name and role: [MY ROLE] What I want the reply to achieve: [GOAL] Facts or decisions I can confirm: [WHAT I KNOW] Steps: 1. Summarise the thread in three bullet points: what was asked, what was agreed, and what is still open. Name who said what. 2. List every question in the thread that was addressed to me or is still unanswered. 3. If anything needed for my reply is missing from the thread and from my notes, ask me about it before drafting, at most three questions. 4. Write the reply: answer the open questions in the order they were asked, state any decision clearly, and end with one next step with an owner and a date. Format: - The three-bullet summary first, for me only. - Then the reply, under 180 words, with a subject line only if the topic of the thread has changed. Quality check: Make sure the reply does not repeat what others already said and does not commit me to anything outside [WHAT I KNOW].

The words in brackets are the parts you replace with your own details.

ChatGPT

Reply to a long email thread prompt

When you come back to a thread of twenty messages, the hard part is not the writing but working out what is still open and what people expect from you. This prompt has ChatGPT read the whole thread, tell you who asked what, list the unanswered questions, and only then draft your answer. The reply ends with a single next step with an owner and a date, so the thread can move forward instead of growing.

ChatGPTOpen ChatGPT

Replace [EMAIL THREAD] and [MY ROLE] and [GOAL] and [WHAT I KNOW] with your own text before you send it.

Writing

Adapted from a prompt on prompts.chat (CC0-1.0), rewritten as a template by us.

More inspiration

Open in ChatGPT Write your own

What each part of the prompt does

Summary before reply: The three bullets (asked, agreed, open) are for you, not the recipients. Reading them first lets you catch a misread thread before the reply goes out with a wrong assumption baked in.
Questions waiting on you: Step 2 pulls out every question addressed to you, including the ones buried in the middle of long messages. Missing one of these is the usual reason a thread needs yet another round.
Ask before inventing: If the thread and your notes do not hold an answer, ChatGPT asks you up to three questions instead of filling the gap with a plausible guess you might not notice.
One owned next step: Ending with an owner and a date turns a reply into a decision point. Without it, long threads tend to drift while everyone waits for someone else.

Variations to try

Same idea, one thing changed.

Reply all with a recap for newcomers
Read the email thread below and write my reply to it. Thread (oldest first): [EMAIL THREAD] My name and role: [MY ROLE] What I want the reply to achieve: [GOAL] Facts or decisions I can confirm: [WHAT I KNOW] Steps: 1. Summarise the thread in three bullet points: what was asked, what was agreed, and what is still open. Name who said what. 2. List every question in the thread that was addressed to me or is still unanswered. 3. If anything needed for my reply is missing from the thread and from my notes, ask me about it before drafting, at most three questions. 4. Write the reply for people who were just added to the thread: open with a two-sentence recap, then answer the open questions in the order they were asked, state any decision clearly, and end with one next step with an owner and a date. Format: - The three-bullet summary first, for me only. - Then the reply, under 180 words, with a subject line only if the topic of the thread has changed. Quality check: Make sure the reply does not repeat what others already said and does not commit me to anything outside [WHAT I KNOW].
Polite decline
Read the email thread below and write my reply to it. Thread (oldest first): [EMAIL THREAD] My name and role: [MY ROLE] What I want the reply to achieve: [GOAL] Facts or decisions I can confirm: [WHAT I KNOW] Steps: 1. Summarise the thread in three bullet points: what was asked, what was agreed, and what is still open. Name who said what. 2. List every question in the thread that was addressed to me or is still unanswered. 3. If anything needed for my reply is missing from the thread and from my notes, ask me about it before drafting, at most three questions. 4. Write the reply: answer the open questions in the order they were asked, decline the request politely with one clear reason and, if possible, an alternative, and end with one next step with an owner and a date. Format: - The three-bullet summary first, for me only. - Then the reply, under 180 words, with a subject line only if the topic of the thread has changed. Quality check: Make sure the reply does not repeat what others already said and does not commit me to anything outside [WHAT I KNOW].

If the result isn't right

Strip signatures and legal footers before pasting; they add length without adding context.
If the thread mixes two topics, run the prompt twice and send two replies, one per topic.
Read the commitment in the last line out loud before sending; it is the part people will hold you to.
When the thread has gone back and forth on a decision, ask for the summary only first and settle the open point with one person before writing to everyone.