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Step

A step is one small job for the AI, with one clear prompt and one result handed to the next step. A workflow is a chain of steps.

YournotesPull outdecisionsList theactionsTheresult
Start
Start with your material. Here, a page of meeting notes.

In a Real Template

Step 1 of the meeting notes template has one job, to find the decisions. Its prompt names a role, one task, a few rules and the shape to return.

The role
You are an experienced meeting secretary who writes careful, neutral records.
The task
Your task is to read the meeting notes below and find every decision: something the group agreed, chose, approved, changed or stopped.
A rule
Do not merge two decisions into one row. Do not include actions or open questions. Do not give advice or comments.
The shape it returns
Return exactly one markdown table and nothing else:| # | Decision | Source line |

What to notice: The step does not also pull out actions or questions. Those are the next two steps, so this one stays short enough to read and to check.

From the template Turn meeting notes into decisions and actions.

Easy to Mix Up

  • A promptThe words you give the AI for one step. A step is the prompt plus the result it hands on and the check after it.
  • A checkA step does the work; a check asks one plain question about the work it did.
  • A hand-offThe result a step passes on, in a fixed shape. The step makes it; the hand-off is how it is shaped.

Go Deeper

Lesson 2: StepsPut a workflow’s steps in order.Steps, the parts guideOne job per step, shown on a diagram.Lesson 3: Writing the promptThe parts of a good step prompt.