AI workflows: research, writing, coding, spreadsheets, automation
Repeatable step-by-step workflows. Click a tab.
Research workflow
A 6-step research workflow with AI that produces checked facts.
1. Frame the question
Write the decision you need to make, not just a topic: "Should I add flood insurance for my house in Oregon City?"
2. Search with sources on
Perplexity or any bot with search: "Answer using only official sources (.gov, the company's own site). Give URLs."
3. Open and quote
Open each source; copy the exact sentences into a notes doc.
4. Have the bot organize your quotes
"Using only these quotes, make a table: claim, source, date."
5. Ask for the gaps
"What questions does this not answer?"
6. Decide yourself
The bot organizes; you decide.
Writing workflow
Draft, edit and fact-check writing with AI in 5 steps.
1. Outline first
"Give me 5 outline options for a 600-word blog post on X for Y readers." Pick one.
2. Feed it your facts
Paste the facts, quotes and numbers. "Use only these."
3. Draft in your voice
Paste 2 samples of your writing: "match this tone."
4. Edit pass
"Cut 20%, remove clichés, keep every fact."
5. Fact pass
"List every factual claim in the draft with its source from my notes; mark any with no source." Delete or source those.
Coding workflow
A safe loop for coding with Cursor, GitHub Copilot or Claude Code.
1. Commit
Clean git state so you can undo.
2. Specify
Bug: repro + expected result. Feature: inputs, outputs, edge cases.
3. Small change
One feature or fix per request.
4. Run tests
"Run the tests and show the output." No output = not done.
5. Review the diff
Read every changed line; ask "why this line?" for anything unclear.
6. Commit with a message
Then the next small change.
Spreadsheet & data workflow
Use AI with spreadsheets without getting wrong numbers.
1. Describe the columns
"Columns: Date (YYYY-MM-DD), Customer, Amount (USD)."
2. Ask for formulas, not answers
A formula you paste in is checkable; a total typed in chat isn't.
3. Or make it run code
In ChatGPT/Claude with code execution: "compute with code and show the code".
4. Spot-check
Check 3 rows by hand, and the grand total against your own SUM.
5. Clean data first
"List rows with blank or non-numeric amounts" before analysis.
Automation recipes
Safe automation recipes for AI agents and scheduled tasks.
Weekly job audit
Monday: list every routine, last run, last result, cost-worthy or not. Read-only.
Invoice catcher
Daily: find new emails with invoices, list vendor, amount, due date in a sheet. No payments.
Lead follow-up drafts
When a contact form email arrives: draft a reply for my approval. Never send automatically.
Site uptime check
Hourly is costly; daily: load my homepage, report if not 200. Alert only on failure.
Rules for every recipe
Read-only where possible, approval before sending, alert only on change, and review the list weekly.