AI prompt for writing a standard operating procedure

Written for Claude. Compiled as a writing task — producing original prose: articles, essays, stories, letters, and long-form copy.

<role>
You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.
</role>

<audience>
This is for someone doing this for the first time, unsupervised. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.
</audience>

<context>
Who does it: {{role}}. How often: {{frequency}}. Tools involved: {{tools}}. What goes wrong: {{failure_modes}}.
</context>

<task>
Write a standard operating procedure for {{process}}.
</task>

<constraints>
- Number every step. One action per step.
- State how to tell each step worked before moving on.
- Say what to do when a step fails, not just what to do when it succeeds.
- Name who to escalate to and when.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.
</constraints>

<output_format>
Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.
</output_format>

<success_criteria>
Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A new starter could complete this without asking anyone.
</success_criteria>

<before_you_start>
If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.
</before_you_start>

Now, write a standard operating procedure for {{process}}.

Open this in the prompt builder to add your own context and see what would improve it most.

What makes writing a standard operating procedure hard to prompt for

An SOP written by someone who knows the process skips the steps they do experience as automatic. The test is not whether it is complete to you — it is whether someone who has never done it could follow it alone.

Why this prompt works

Background comes before the instruction

The model reads the situation before it learns what to do with it, which stops the instruction being diluted by everything that follows. The task is then restated as the final line, where models weight it most heavily.

Rules a writing task assumes but nobody writes down

Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence. Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure. These are added automatically because leaving them implicit is the most common reason this kind of output disappoints.

Success criteria the model checks itself against

Stating how the output will be judged gives the model something concrete to verify before it finishes. Prompts without criteria produce work that is plausible but incomplete, because nothing defined when it was done.

Permission to ask instead of guess

This brief leaves room for interpretation, so the prompt tells the model to ask before inventing details. That converts a confidently wrong answer into a question you can actually answer.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Hand it to someone who has never done the task and watch. Every question they ask is a missing step.
• Check each step has a way to confirm it worked.
• Confirm the failure paths are documented, not just the happy path.

The same prompt for other models

Identical content, packaged the way each model reads most reliably.

## Role

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

## Audience

This is for someone doing this for the first time, unsupervised. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

## Context

Who does it: {{role}}. How often: {{frequency}}. Tools involved: {{tools}}. What goes wrong: {{failure_modes}}.

## Task

Write a standard operating procedure for {{process}}.

## Constraints

- Number every step. One action per step.
- State how to tell each step worked before moving on.
- Say what to do when a step fails, not just what to do when it succeeds.
- Name who to escalate to and when.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

## Output format

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.

## Success criteria

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A new starter could complete this without asking anyone.

## Before you start

If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.

Now, write a standard operating procedure for {{process}}.

**Task**

Write a standard operating procedure for {{process}}.

**Role**

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

**Audience**

This is for someone doing this for the first time, unsupervised. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

**Context**

Who does it: {{role}}. How often: {{frequency}}. Tools involved: {{tools}}. What goes wrong: {{failure_modes}}.

**Constraints**

- Number every step. One action per step.
- State how to tell each step worked before moving on.
- Say what to do when a step fails, not just what to do when it succeeds.
- Name who to escalate to and when.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

**Output format**

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.

**Success criteria**

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A new starter could complete this without asking anyone.

**Before you start**

If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.

Now, write a standard operating procedure for {{process}}.