How to write useful AI summary prompts
A good summary prompt says what to keep, how long to be, and what to do when the source is silent. This walks through writing one in Reduz, with placeholders and an example.
Allan Warsing
The built-in formats in Reduz cover most reading. Custom prompts are for the rest: research papers, meeting transcripts, product reviews, anything where you already know what you want out of the text.
A useful prompt does three jobs. It says what to keep, how much to write, and what to do when the source does not answer something.
Start with the source
Put the {content} placeholder where the extracted text belongs. Reduz fills it in when you summarize. A few more placeholders add context when it helps:
- {title}: the page or video title,
- {url}: the source address,
- {metadata}: details such as author or date,
- {language}: the language you want the answer in.
Reduz treats all of this as untrusted source material. If a page contains hidden instructions aimed at the AI, your prompt still decides what the model does.
Ask for evidence
Name the parts you need. For a research paper: the question, the method, the findings, and the stated limitations. For a report: the main claim, the supporting numbers, and the open questions. Then add one line that does a lot of work: tell the model not to invent missing details, and to say plainly when the source does not cover something.
Set the shape
Say how long the answer should be and in what form. "Five bullets, one line each" beats "be concise". If you will paste the result somewhere, name the destination: a team update, a study note, a social post.
An example
A prompt for papers might read: Summarize {content} for a reader who knows the field. Give the research question, the method, the three main findings with their numbers, and the limitations the authors state. Do not add claims that are not in the paper. If something is missing, say so.
Test on something short
Try a new prompt on a short source first. If the summary drifts, add a sentence that names the audience or the exact output shape, and test again. Built-in formats already carry Reduz's editorial guidance. Custom prompts keep exactly the instructions you write and nothing more.