Summarize Before You Switch
Part of the Prompting Techniques section of Coddy's AI Prompts journey. Lesson 18 of 24.
In Fundamentals you saw that long chats fill the context window, and a new chat starts empty. You will often want to start fresh: a cleaner chat, a different tool, a colleague taking over. Don't retype everything. Ask the AI to pack the decisions into a short brief you can paste.
After a chat planning a weekend in Lisbon (May 9 to 11, 600 euros, a guesthouse in Alfama, tram 28 and a fado show):
Summarize what we decided as 4 short bullet points I can paste into a new chat. Bullets only.- Stay in Alfama for budget-friendly accommodation
- Take the tram 28 for city tour
- Enjoy a fado show on night tour
- Budget around 600 euros for two travelersLook closely: the dates are gone. A summary keeps what the model thinks matters, not what you need. So name the facts that must survive, like keep the dates, budget and times, and read the brief before you paste it.
Challenge
MediumThe chat already holds a conversation planning a birthday dinner. Get a brief you can paste into a new chat.
The AI's response must:
- Be exactly 4 bullet points and nothing else
- Keep the guests (8), the date (the 12th), the budget (200) and the time (7)
Test yourselfThis lesson includes a short quiz. Start the lesson to answer it and track your progress.
All lessons in Prompting Techniques
1Show, Don't Tell
Zero-Shot vs Few-ShotLeave a Slot to FillExamples Set the FormatExamples Get CopiedRecap: Show, Don't Tell4Conversations
Refine, Don't RestartBig Jobs in Small StepsSummarize Before You SwitchSame Prompt, Same ReplyRecap: Conversations