Playcode School / Write an AI brief
Give AI a brief it can check against.
AI cannot see what is in your head. Leave out who the product is for, what the data looks like or what a good result is, and it has to guess.
A useful brief says what the work starts from, shows one example, names the limits and ends with checks. Then you can test the result instead of judging it by feel.
Say what the work starts from.
Name the material the work begins with: the file a customer uploads, a template you already use, the data it reads or the app that exists today.
Anthropic's guide "Prompting best practices" (2026) suggests a test: show your request to a colleague who has little context on the task. If they would be confused, the AI will be too.
Example: "Build a summary tool" leaves a colleague guessing. "Recruiters upload an application as a PDF or Word file; use the attached client template" tells them where to start.
Show one example of the result.
Attach one sample of what goes in and the result you want back, such as an application and the summary you would write for it. The same guide calls examples one of the most reliable ways to steer the format, tone and structure of what comes back.
Use invented or properly authorized sample data. A real customer's file inside an example is still a real customer's file.
Name what must not change.
List what the AI must leave alone, which data it may use and what waits for a later version. A limit stated before the build is easier to keep than one found after it.
Example: keep hiring decisions with the recruiter, use only the sample applications I attach, and leave candidate ranking for later.
Write the checks before the build.
Decide how you will know the work is done before it starts. Dan North's essay "Introducing BDD" (2006) writes each check in three parts. Write one for each thing that must work, and one for what must not happen.
- Given
- The starting situation. Example: a sample application arrives as a PDF file.
- When
- What happens. Example: the recruiter asks for a summary.
- Then
- What must be true. Example: every statement in the summary links to the line it came from.
Write your AI brief.
Use your own project, or edit the example below. Your answers stay in this browser until you choose to start a project. Copy the brief into any AI tool, download it, or use it to start a Playcode project.
This is an editable example, not a finished specification. A clear brief makes the result easier to check; you still check it yourself.
Check the result against your brief.
When the first version is ready, run each check yourself and note which pass and which fail. You can also ask the AI to check its own work against the same list.
Bring back one failed check at a time as your next request. When the checks pass, decide what the product should record once people use it.