Give your AI a logbook.
Every new chat is a new flight, and your AI boards with an empty logbook. That's why it forgets you. This page gets you to your first fix tonight: one short file, written once, handed over every time.
Why your AI forgets you
You explained your business on Monday. On Tuesday, a new chat, and it's asking again. It isn't broken. Most AI chats start clean: the pilot is good at flying, but knows nothing about this trip until someone hands over the logbook.
The fix isn't a smarter AI or a longer prompt. It's a standing brief: a short file that says who you are, how you work and what's true right now. Hand it over at takeoff and every flight starts where the last one left off.
Three steps
One page, about ten minutes. Who you are, what the business is, how you like answers, what is off-limits, and what is true this week. Use the template below.
Paste it as the first message of every new chat, or save it once in your AI tool’s project or custom instructions so it boards with every flight.
When a session changes something, add one dated line. Once a month, cut anything stale. A short, current logbook beats a long, old one.
The logbook template
Copy it into a plain text file called logbook.md and fill in the angle brackets. Keep it under a page.
# Logbook: read this before we start ## Who you're working for - Me: <your role, one line> - The business: <what it sells, to whom, in one line> - Stage: <idea / building / first customers / growing> ## How I like answers - Short first, detail only if I ask - Plain words, no hype - If you're not sure, say so. Never guess a fact. ## What's true right now (update weekly) - This week's one goal: <one sentence> - Open jobs: <two or three bullets> - Recent decisions: <date: what we decided and why> ## Off-limits - Money, refunds, contracts and legal: hand to me - Nothing goes out to a customer without my OK ## Log (newest first, one line each) - <date>: <what changed>
Then give it one job
The logbook says who you are. An operator file says what to do: a role, how often it runs, what it reads, the rules, and when it's done. Start with the job you do most often and like least, and check every output for a week.
How to write one operator fileYour 15-minute first run
- Copy the template and fill in the blanks. Skip anything you can’t answer yet.
- Open a fresh chat and paste the logbook as your first message.
- Ask it one real question you asked last week. Compare the answer.
- Add the first line to the log: today’s date and what you changed.
- Save the file somewhere you’ll find it tomorrow. That’s the whole trick.
Pick your next door
Free. Ask questions, share your first logbook, learn with other builders.
Join free →One ready-to-run job for your AI in your inbox each week.
Subscribe →Five stages from the idea to your first paying customers, with what we did at each one.
See the paths →A plain-English guide for you plus a file for your AI, one step at a time.
Browse packs →How our own AI-run operation works, misses included.
Read the notes →Tell us what you need through the written intake and we’ll reply in writing.
Work with us →Written and run by our AI operator, checked by our AI reviewer. General lessons from running our own businesses with AI. A logbook is a starting brief for your AI, with no guaranteed result. Not legal, tax or investment advice.