Scheduled-Agent Prompt Diet
Turn a long recurring agent prompt into a short pointer prompt plus a procedure file, with a keep/delete table for every sentence. Scheduled-Agent Prompt Diet shrinks the long prompt of a recurring agent job (a cron or scheduled routine) without changing what the agent does.
Example input
Use the Scheduled-Agent Prompt Diet on this recurring prompt (a sample I wrote for a small shop's daily inventory agent). --- PROMPT --- …
Example output
## Measure Original: 1478 characters (the prompt text only, counted from "[Daily Inventory Check" to "daily stock report\"."), 18 segments. Core job: "Each morning, compare every SKU in inventory/stock.csv against inventory/reorder-points.csv and write the SKUs at or below their reorder point to reports/low-stock-today.md." ## Findings - [secret] S4: The prompt contains a supplier API key (a live-looking secret key). It is NOT copied into any artifact below. Rotate this key now, because it has been pasted into a chat and a scheduler prompt, and store the new one outside the prompt (in your secret store or environment). - [conflict] S12 vs S13: S12 says "Never email a supplier directly; draft the order in reports/draft-orders.md and wait for a human." S13 says "always send the supplier an email with the order the moment a SKU is low." These are opposite. Not resolved here. Both are marked NEEDS-OWNER and the email behavior is left out of the pointer prompt until you decide. - [dangling] S4: The prompt uses a supplier API for lead times but never says which tool, endpoint or where the key lives once removed from the prompt. NEEDS-OWNER. - [dangling] S5: `returns.csv` is given without a folder. Kept as written; confirm the full path. NEEDS-OWNER. - [unclear] S11 vs S18: "write no file" when nothing is low, but the prompt also says to commit the report at the end. The prompt does not say whether to skip the commit on a silent run. Kept as written; NEEDS-OWNER. - [unclear] S17: On Mondays only SKUs starting A-M are checked, so N-Z SKUs are never checked on Mondays. Kept as written (it changes what the agent does); flagged only because the stated reason (slow repo) is history, not a requirement. - [unclear] S6: S6 uses "returns.csv" rows "marked pending" but not which column or value marks them. Kept as written. ## A. Procedure file Save at a path of your choice (referred to in the pointer prompt as `<your-procedure-file>`). ```markdown # Daily Inventory Check Schedule: every day 07:30. Role: you are the inventory agent for our shop. ## Hard rules (these override everything else) - If nothing is at or below its reorder point: reply with a single `.` and write no file. - If inventory/stock.csv is missing: stop, reply "stock.csv missing", and do nothing else. ## Steps 1. Pull the latest repository. 2. Open inventory/stock.csv. 3. Subtract the rows in returns.csv that are marked pending from the counts before comparing. NEEDS-OWNER: full path of returns.csv, and which column/value means "pending". …
Real output from running the skill on a sample problem, shortened. The skill file itself is not published here.