š Permissions: All users can chat with the Minis they have access to, so this guide applies to everyone. Learn more about roles ā
A Mini knows the records of the person it represents, but it does not know what you are working on today. When you say who you are, what you are trying to do, and the period you care about, the answer comes back in a form you can actually use. This guide covers seven things worth trying, drawn from prompting sessions with practitioners.
When to use this
You are getting answers that are technically right but not useful and you are not sure what to change about the way you are asking.
You are preparing a review or a report and want the Mini to pull together records from a particular period in a particular shape.
You are new to working with a Mini and want a short list of habits that make the biggest difference.
You are showing a colleague how to get started and want something you can walk through together.
What a good prompt looks like
Here is an example of a prompt that works really well, broken down. It does not have to carry all five parts every time. What it shows is the layers of context you can build around the task itself.
"I'm a BSP practitioner working on a review of this customer's BSP. Right now I'm investigating incidents and trying to understand any changes in behaviour since the last BSP. List every behaviour and the incidents relating to it. Present it as a table, with a column on the left showing whether the behaviour is in the current BSP."
The task itself is only one line of that: "List every behaviour and the incidents relating to it." Asked on its own, it would give you a very different answer. Everything wrapped around it, who is asking, what they are working on, the period that matters and the shape it should come back in, is what turns a reasonable answer into one you can use. The seven sections below take those layers one at a time.
1. Give wider context
Say what you want and why you want it. The task sits clearly in your head, and that is exactly the part that is hard to get down when you are typing. A little more context, the participant you are working with this week, the goals you are working towards, the part you want to look at, gives your Mini a much better chance of helping you out. The more information it has, the better it performs.
"Find me the incident reports from this week. I'm looking at whether there are links or recurring themes between them, because I'm a BSP practitioner doing a BSP review."
Extra context lets your Mini surface things you did not think to ask for, like an incident written up as a note, because it knows that matters for your review.
2. Ask the Mini for help
It knows which records it can reach, so it is the quickest way to see what is possible. Ask before you plan the whole task.
"I'm doing a BSP review. How can you help me with it?"
3. Name the format you want
Left to guess it picks for you. Name it: dot points, prose, a table, a template you already use.
"Format this as an ADIME template that I'll fill out after the session."
4. Give a time period
Without one your Mini may look across everything on file. A period keeps the search tight and the answer focused.
"Since the last BSP", "this plan period", "her previous sessions".
š” Tip: Start narrow and widen if you need to. Try "in the past two weeks" first, and follow up with "in the past three months" if there is not enough there.
5. Memories
Say it at the start of a conversation and that Mini remembers, for now one Mini at a time. Set them where you work most.
"Remember that I like my notes in dot points."
6. Labels
Every record carries a label for its type, such as Note, Assessment, Incident, or a finance label for billing records. Name the one you want.
"Check the billing records for this plan period."
7. Dictation
More context in seconds, and most people speak more freely than they type. Say the whole thing, mess and all, and your Mini will sort it out.
For the full detail, see Using dictation.
ā ļø Always review before you rely on it: a Mini's answer is a starting point, not a finished record. Check it against the source records through the citations, especially when it will inform a care decision or go into something you share.
Tips for better prompts
Say the why, not just the what. "I'm preparing for a plan review" changes what the Mini looks for, even when the ask stays the same.
Build the answer over several turns. Ask, read what comes back, then refine. You do not have to get everything into one prompt.
Reuse a prompt that worked. If a phrasing gave you what you needed for one person, it will usually work for the next.
Check you are in the right Mini. Each Mini holds one person's records, so confirm the name in the sidebar before you start.
ā¹ļø Good to know: for side-by-side examples of weaker and stronger prompts, see Before and after: asking Minis for better answers. For larger pieces of work spanning several record types, see How to break down complex questions. If you would rather start from a ready-made prompt, see How to use prompt recommendations.
Need help?
If a prompt is not giving you what you need, open the Help Desk in the app and tell us what you were trying to do. We are happy to help, and the examples you send us shape guides like this one.