Ask the archive: answers from your team's files, with the source attached
The prompt to keep
Here's the prompt again, ready to paste into any project that reads your files:
Answer only from the files in this project. For every claim, name the file and the page or section. If two files disagree, show both and say which is newer. If the files don't answer the question, say "not in the archive" and stop.
Three habits make it work better over time:
- Date your files in the name. "brand-guide-v6-2025" lets the assistant, and you, spot the newer version at a glance.
- Keep a "not in the archive" list. Each time the assistant says it, write the question down. That list shows the gaps in what your team has written up.
- Open the page before it leaves the building. A source you haven't checked is just a better-dressed guess.
What the rest of this chapter adds
What you just did has a name: retrieval. The assistant looks up the relevant pieces of your files first, then answers from them. The lessons after this one build that in code: cutting long files into pieces, finding the right piece for a question, and measuring how often it finds the right one. If you don't write code, you can still read them for the ideas. They explain why an answer sometimes cites the wrong page, and what the people building these tools do about it.