Ask HN: What AI prompts have you found most reliable for actual work?

I've been telling Gemini to limit it's response to a certain amount of words, typically in 25 word increments. When I just want it to agree with me, I add "25 words." to the end of the prompt. When I want it to give me a rough answer, 50 - 75 words. For a more robust response, 100 - 200 words. This has made my experience much, much better.

The useful prompts are usually boring. Give context, say what you want, say what to avoid, and set the tone. Without that it often gets too polished.

[flagged]