Let a small team of bots run your work: one routes, one builds, one critiques
By Šarūnas Vaitkus · about a 6-minute read
One bot doing everything gets slow and confused. A few bots with clear jobs work better: one takes your ideas and routes them, one builds and ships, one checks quality, and others run routines like a catalog or a news brief. They finish routine work on their own and bundle their questions into one message. You send the prompts below, in order, and they all ask you before anything risky.
A bot that can create and talk to other bots, or several bots you already use.
A rough list of the kinds of work you hand out: ideas, building, design, research.
About 20 minutes to set the roles and read their rules.
How it works
You send a prompt, the bot does the work, and you approve what matters.
Highlighted [brackets] are yours to replace. Copy keeps them in the prompt.
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Step 1. Name the roles
Prompt to send
Look at what I've asked you to do over the last month. Don't change anything. Group the work into three to six roles, for example: a lead that takes ideas and routes them, a builder that writes code and publishes, a design reviewer, and one bot per routine. For each role, write one line on what it owns and one line on what it never does. Show me the list.
Why you're sending it
Roles drawn from your real work fit better than a textbook org chart.
What you'll get
A short list of roles, each with what it owns and what's off limits.
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Step 2. Give each bot standing rules
Prompt to send
For each role, write the standing rules it follows every time: its job, the tools it uses, its writing style, and its limits. Include the shared rules for all of them: finish routine work without asking, bundle questions into one message, and always ask me before sending or posting anything, spending money, deleting anything, changing DNS, or anything legal or reputational. Save each set as that bot's instructions.
Why you're sending it
Written rules mean you don't repeat yourself, and every bot follows the same safety line.
What you'll get
One instruction set per bot, with the shared safety rules in each.
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Step 3. Set up the handoffs
Prompt to send
Write down how work moves between the bots. For example: the lead sends a build request to the builder with the goal and the acceptance check; the builder sends screenshots to the design reviewer; the reviewer replies PASS or FAIL with fixes; the builder reports back to the lead when done. Each handoff should say what's being asked, by when, and what "done" means.
Why you're sending it
Most mix-ups happen between bots, not inside one. Clear handoffs fix that.
What you'll get
A one-page map of who sends what to whom.
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Step 4. Agree what always needs you
Prompt to send
Make one list of decisions only I can make, and give it to every bot: going live with a major change, sending or posting anything outside, spending money, deleting anything, DNS changes, legal or reputational questions, and anything where I've already said no. Everything else, the bots decide and log.
Why you're sending it
A short, shared list is easier to trust than each bot guessing what you'd want.
What you'll get
One list every bot works from, so you're asked only about what matters.
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Step 5. Get one bundled question, not fifty pings
Prompt to send
Tell every bot to collect its open questions and send them to the lead, not to me. Once a day, the lead sends me one message with every question, numbered, each with a recommended answer, so I can reply "yes to all" or pick.
Why you're sending it
You stay in charge without your day turning into a stream of small questions.
What you'll get
At most one message a day with all open decisions and a suggested answer for each.
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Step 6. Get a weekly summary
Prompt to send
Every Monday, have the lead send me one page: what each bot finished last week, what's stuck and why, and the decisions waiting for me, in order of deadline.
Why you're sending it
A weekly view shows you whether the team is moving, without reading every chat.
What you'll get
One Monday page covering every bot.
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Step 7. Correct a bot when it gets it wrong
Prompt to send
When I correct one bot, check whether the same mistake could happen in another bot, and update every bot's rules that it affects. Write a two-line note on what went wrong and the new rule.
Why you're sending it
A correction should fix the team, not just the one chat.
What you'll get
A short note per correction and updated rules wherever they apply.
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Step 8. Retire what nobody uses
Prompt to send
Once a month, list every routine the bots run, when it last produced something I used, and what I keep asking for by hand. Suggest which routines to stop and which manual requests to turn into routines. Don't stop anything without my yes.
Why you're sending it
Routines pile up. Old ones cost time and attention even when nobody reads them.
What you'll get
A short monthly list of routines to keep, stop or add.
All in one (optional)
Prefer one prompt? Send this instead.
Prompt to send
Set up a small team of bots for my work, in this order: roles drawn from what I've asked for in the last month, standing rules for each with shared safety rules, written handoffs, one list of decisions only I make, one bundled daily question through the lead, a Monday summary, corrections that update every bot they affect, and a monthly review of routines. Show me the roles and rules before you create any bot. Ask me before anything goes live, before sending or posting outside, spending money or deleting anything.
What your bot will always ask you first
Creating a new bot or a new routine.
Sending or posting anything outside.
Spending money.
Deleting anything, including stopping a routine.
Anything legal or reputational.
It bundles its questions, so you're not pinged all day.