Writing effective requests
Describe the outcome you want in plain language. Proto chooses the tools, skills and steps for you.
Ask for the result, not the method
You never need to name a tool, skill or command. Tell Proto what “done” looks like.
| Instead of… | Try… |
|---|---|
| “Add some columns to Products.” | “Add a Margin % formula column to Products, calculated from price and cost.” |
| “Make a dashboard.” | “Build an operations dashboard showing open work orders, overdue orders and utilization by work center.” |
| “Help with this file.” | “Clean this customer export: fix duplicates and standardize addresses.” |
| “Set up approvals.” | “Trigger an approval whenever a requisition is over $10,000.” |
Include what matters
- Where: the app, table or page the change belongs to.
- What: the fields, rules, numbers or thresholds involved.
- Output: the file type, page or format you want back.
- Checks: anything Proto should test, for example “test it with a sample trigger.”
Useful phrases
| Say this | Proto does |
|---|---|
| “Plan this before you touch anything.” | Enters plan mode and waits for your approval. |
| “Finish it end to end, don’t check in.” | Runs without interruptions and tracks todos until done. |
| “Do this for all 400 rows, one file each.” | Starts a bulk job with one report per row and a final check. |
| “Test that workflow before activating it.” | Runs the workflow with sample triggers and checks the results. |
| “Why is this dashboard broken at zero rows?” | Fixes empty-state handling and re-checks the page. |
| “Tell me when this page changes.” | Creates a watch routine that reports back in this thread. |
Tip: If the result is close but not right, say what is wrong instead of starting over, for example “The chart overlaps on mobile.”