Applied AI Tools

As you keep prompting ChatGPT for daily tasks, you will notice how some prompts give exceptional results. But with constant prompting activity, your number of chat windows keep increasing. Each window in turn include multiple prompt attempts and responses. I started experiencing how I was spending too much time searching for prompts which worked well – and I decided it was time to organize prompts.

I came across the concept of prompt management – in which, first I explored what existing features did ChatGPT provide to help organize prompts. If you’re into frequently applying prompt engineering techniques, this guide solely focuses on how to use ChatGPT’s free version for prompt management.

Key takeaways:

• Introduction to prompt management
• 5 ChatGPT features to manage and organize prompts
• Limitations of ChatGPT’s free version for prompt management

What is prompt management?

Prompt management involves organizing your curated and written prompts to make them searchable and retrievable as you utilize them to interact with ChatGPT or other Large Language Models (LLMs).

It’s just like the meticulous art of preparing a chef’s recipe book, where each ingredient (or in our context, each prompt) is chosen, organized, and utilized to achieve a desired outcome. Some of its typical aspects include:

1. Structured organization: just as a well-organized library categorizes books based on genres, authors, or themes, prompt management ensures that each prompt is systematically organized. This might involve categorizing prompts based on their intent (e.g., queries, instructions, creative prompts) or relevance to specific projects or contexts.
2. Relevance and optimization: Not all prompts are created equal! Effective prompt engineering involves crafting prompts that are concise, clear, and contextually relevant to elicit desired responses from LLMs. Through prompt management, you can refine, tweak, and optimize prompts based on feedback, performance metrics, or specific requirements.
3. Version control: In dynamic environments where projects evolve, prompts might require updates or modifications. Prompt management emphasizes maintaining versions of prompts, ensuring that you can revisit, refine, or revert to previous versions as needed. This is particularly vital in scenarios where historical data or performance insights inform prompt adjustments.
4. Collaboration and sharing: In collaborative settings, multiple stakeholders might contribute to prompt creation or optimization. Prompt management facilitates seamless collaboration by enabling teams to share, review, and iterate on prompts. This ensures consistency, coherence, and alignment across various touchpoints or initiatives.

Why is prompt management crucial?

The significance of prompt management transcends mere organization; it underpins the efficacy, efficiency, and impact of interactions with LLMs. Consider the following:

• Enhanced productivity: a well-organized repository of prompts streamlines workflow, minimizes redundancies, and accelerates decision-making. Instead of sifting through a myriad of prompts, users can pinpoint relevant prompts swiftly, enhancing productivity.
• Consistency and quality control: consistency is pivotal in maintaining brand voice, messaging coherence, or thematic alignment. Prompt management instills discipline, ensuring that prompts adhere to predefined standards, guidelines, or benchmarks. This consistency fosters trust, reliability, and credibility in AI interactions.
• Performance optimization: by meticulously curating and refining prompts based on real-time insights, feedback loops, or performance analytics, you can fine-tune LLMs’ responses. This iterative approach to learn prompt engineering cultivates continuous improvement, driving superior outcomes, and user satisfaction.

5 ChatGPT features to help with prompt management

Before choosing external prompt manager tools, here are some key prompt management features within ChatGPT you can explore for your requirements:

1. Use ‘Custom Instructions’ feature to save frequently used instructions

ChatGPT’s custom instructions in its both free and paid version is a great way to align the model’s responses based on your frequently used instructions and use cases.

For example, let’s say you’re using ChatGPT for management consulting tasks – wherein you’re brainstorming with ChatGPT to prepare a risk assessment plan. This requires frequent prompting such that for every new response, you may need to tell ChatGPT to consider company’s information – which is constant for your prompts. Instead of rewriting information, you can use ‘custom information’ feature to consider the company’s information every time you work on this task.

Thus, ‘Custom Instructions’ is a good way to organize frequently used aspects of your prompt and align response formats. Here’s how to go about it:

Click on your profile and select ‘Custom Instructions’ options. It will open a dialog box as shown below:

If you’re using ‘role’ based prompt optimization technique, then the first option of ‘What would you like ChatGPT to know more about you to provide better response?’ is the place to add it. You can add the audience persona or your persona as the ‘role’ as per your designed prompt.

Then, you can add ‘format’ of ChatGPT’s response in the second option of ‘How would you like ChatGPT to respond?’.

You can learn more about writing a good quality prompt using ‘role’ and ‘format’ prompt optimization techniques – How to write a prompt. Now let’s see an how it will work using the consulting example itself –

Toggle the ‘Enable for new chats’ and hit ‘Save’ option. Then, open a new chat window and add any topic you would like to use the format for – it will provide you answers as per instructions you provided.

Custom instructions feature is great if you do not have too many varied use cases for using ChatGPT.

2. How to export data from ChatGPT?

ChatGPT allows you to export data via a compressed ZIP folder. It will give you an HTML file that is filled with all your ChatGPT prompts and responses which you can then use to search using browser tools. It also provides you with JSON files and if you’re technically inclined, can explore options accordingly to manage prompts.

To export data, head to Settings, and then choose ‘Data Controls’.

Then, choose the ‘Export Data’ option.

It will show you a dialog box sharing information about the exported data file. Click on ‘Confirm export’ and wait for the email to download the Zip folder.

3. Using ChatGPT share links feature to organize prompts

One trick I was using during the early days of saving prompts was to simply use the ‘share link’ option on the top right and save the link on my Google Keep (or any other note-taking app). You can also edit the name of the prompt to make it easy to search or remember. The ‘Share link’ feature also makes it possible to give access to the prompt and its response to people making it easy to collaborate.

You can access created shared links by going to ‘settings’. Then, check for the ‘Shared Links’ option and click on ‘Manage’. It will show you direct options to access the chat, edit naming, or delete the created shared link.

Learn more about this feature – ChatGPT ‘Share Link’ Help

4. Archive chats on ChatGPT

Like every Archives feature, ChatGPT also allows you to archive your chats and access them later. To archive a chat, you can head to the left panel and open the chat window you wish to archive. Then, click on the three-dot menu and select the ‘Archive chat’ option as shown in the above screenshot.

To access archived chats, you can click on your profile on the left panel and select ‘Settings’.

Then head to the ‘General option’ and head to ‘Archived chats’. Click on ‘Manage’ to access all archived chats in one place.

You can create a shared link or delete them as required.

5. Search functionality in ChatGPT’s iOS mobile application

ChatGPT provides a decent search functionality tailored for prompts in its iOS version. Users can input keywords, tags, or specific phrases, prompting the platform to scour saved prompts and retrieve relevant matches as per the timeline. This feature fosters agility, enabling users to locate and deploy prompts expeditiously, irrespective of repository size.

3 limitations within ChatGPT to save or manage prompts

ChatGPT boasts required functionalities to facilitate prompt management, but it is not enough for someone who is repeatedly using ChatGPT for their daily workflows. Let’s delve into the key limitations:

1. Storage capacity constraints:

One of the foremost limitations within ChatGPT pertains to storage capacity. The platform imposes predefined limits on the number of prompts users can save, necessitating judicious allocation and periodic purging. This constraint can hinder expansive projects or initiatives requiring a diverse repertoire of prompts, compelling users to prioritize or curtail their prompt management endeavors.

• Impact: For users managing multifaceted projects or diverse client portfolios, storage constraints can impede comprehensive prompt cataloging. This limitation necessitates strategic planning, prioritizing essential prompts while potentially compromising on auxiliary or exploratory prompts.

2. Organizational rigidity:

While ChatGPT offers rudimentary categorization mechanisms like archiving and data export, the platform’s organizational framework exhibits inherent rigidity. Users might encounter challenges in devising intricate hierarchies, nested categories, or granular classifications, constraining nuanced prompt engineering endeavors. Even for ChatGPT Plus, you can send limited messages while using GPT-4 mode.

• Impact: In scenarios demanding meticulous prompt segmentation, thematic alignment, or hierarchical structuring, ChatGPT’s organizational limitations can impede optimal prompt management. This constraint underscores the need for supplementary tools or external platforms adept at accommodating intricate organizational paradigms.

3. Absence of advanced analytics:

While ChatGPT facilitates basic prompt management functionalities, the platform exhibits a paucity of advanced analytics or insights about prompt performance, efficacy, or optimization. This limitation inhibits granular analysis, iterative refinement, or data-driven prompt engineering strategies, constraining users’ ability to harness actionable insights.

• Impact: In dynamic environments necessitating continuous prompt refinement, performance optimization, or iterative enhancement, ChatGPT’s analytical limitations can impede informed decision-making, hindering prompt management efficacy. This constraint underscores the imperative of complementing ChatGPT with external analytics tools or methodologies, fostering data-driven prompt engineering endeavors.

If you’re looking for more comprehensive prompt management to create, test, and scale prompt optimization, you may want to explore advanced prompt managers – 15 prompt management tools

FAQs on using ChatGPT for prompt management

ChatGPT 3.5 vs ChatGPT Plus for prompt management – does paid version offer extra features to manage prompts?

ChatGPT plus doesn’t provide exclusive prompt management features – but provides ability to create custom GPTs which are great for frequent and well-defined use cases. It also provides access to ChatGPT plugins where you can search for specialized plugins for prompt management and optimization.

What are some ChatGPT plugins or tools for prompt management?

• Auto Prompt: helps save outputs and retrieve tasks as required.
• PromptLeo: share and organize prompts, track and save prompt versions.
• Prompt Perfect: helps your optimize prompts so that you can optimize your AI
• PromptPlus: helps create ChatGPT templates and use them as required
• PromptFolder: helps organize prompts for ChatGPT and Midjourney with built-in integrations

Can you save ChatGPT prompts?

ChatGPT doesn’t have a dedicated bookmarking or prompt management features yet, but you can explore ‘Archives’ and ‘Custom Instructions’ feature for basic bookmarking-like capabilities.

How do I ensure consistency across diverse prompt types or domains?

Maintaining consistency mandates standardized templates, guidelines, or best practices. Implement thematic frameworks, craft reusable templates, solicit peer reviews, and prioritize alignment with overarching objectives, brand voice, or user expectations.

What are common pitfalls in prompt management and how can I mitigate them?

Common pitfalls encompass redundancy, inconsistency, relevance gaps, and scalability constraints. Mitigate challenges through rigorous quality assurance protocols, user feedback loops, iterative refinement, performance analytics, and alignment with prompt engineering best practices.

Do you have any hacks on using ChatGPT for prompt management?

While ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it still lacks some good task and prompt management features. For this reason, I started to explore note-taking and third party prompt management tools to save and organize my successful prompts. I will share a blog post and free template managing prompts in coming blogs – stay tuned!

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