If you use AI regularly, you've probably written the same kind of prompt dozens of times: summarise this, rewrite that, draft an email. Each time you start from scratch, you lose the lessons from the last attempt. A personal prompt library fixes that.
Where to keep it
Use whatever you already open every day: a notes app, a document, a spreadsheet or a text-expander tool. The best system is the one you'll actually use. Many assistants also let you save custom instructions or reusable projects.
What to save
- The prompt, written as a template with [placeholders]
- What it's for in one line
- Which tool it works best with
- An example result, so you remember what good looks like
- Notes on tweaks that improved it
Organise by task, not by tool
Group prompts by what you're trying to do, such as writing, research, planning, coding or images, rather than by AI product. Tools change; tasks don't.
Improve as you go
Whenever a prompt gives a disappointing result, fix the template, not just the output. Add the missing instruction, the example, or the constraint that would have prevented the problem. Over time your library becomes a record of what works.
Start with five
Don't try to build everything at once. Save the five prompts you use most this week. Browse the prompts on this site for ideas: copy the ones that fit, adapt the brackets to your work, and add them to your collection.