Prompts, Loops and Graphs: The Template I Use to Map Mine

So in the reel I explained prompts, loops and graphs with a kitchen. This is the template I use to map my own jobs, plus what you need to get one running today.

Which one does your job need?

• A one-off job, prompt it. "Rewrite this email so it's shorter."
• Something you can mark right or wrong, loop it. "Every invoice line has a price and a VAT rate."
• The same steps every week, graph it. Your weekly report, your content calendar, chasing new leads.

The four moves on a graph's arrows

Every arrow between two steps says one of these:

• Next. It passed, so move on.
• Again. It failed, so send it back with the reason.
• Stop. It's failed too many times, or there's nothing to do, so end the run and write down why.
• Ask me. It needs a person. Put one of these before anything that sends, posts, pays or deletes.

Then there's a notepad that travels with the job, which developers call the state: the dates, the numbers, the draft, what passed and what didn't. It's how step four knows what step one found.

The template I use to map mine

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT. You can talk your answers out loud if that's easier.

I want to turn one job I keep doing into a graph that an AI can run for me.

Start by asking me to describe the last time I did this job, from the moment it started to the moment it was finished. Ask me one question at a time and wait for each answer.

Then write it up for me:
1. The trigger. What starts the job, and how often it happens.
2. The steps. Between 3 and 8 of them, each one a verb and a thing, like "Pull last week's numbers".
3. For each step, one test that can actually fail: a count, a limit, a match against a source file, or a set format. Only use "I'll look at it" when nothing else works.
4. Where each arrow goes: next, again (with the reason why, 3 tries at most), stop, or ask me.
5. An "ask me" step before anything that sends, posts, pays or deletes.
6. The notepad: everything that has to be carried from one step to the next.
7. The whole job on one line, like this: Trigger > Step 1 > Step 2 > Ask me > Done.

Then ask me if you've got it right. Once I say yes, write the prompt for each step so I can save the lot as a Claude skill or a scheduled task.

Where to run it today

• No code, the Claude app. On any paid plan, describe the job and how often you want it, then click Schedule. It runs on Anthropic's side, so your laptop can be shut. Save your steps as a skill first, then have the scheduled task run that skill.
• One loop in Claude Code. Type /goal and what done looks like. A separate model checks it after every turn, so ask Claude to show the proof, and add "or stop after 20 turns".
• The whole graph in Claude Code. Say "use a workflow" and describe your steps and checks. /workflows shows the run while it works, and once a run does what you wanted, the s key keeps it as a command you can call again. On the Pro plan, switch workflows on in /config first.
• On a timer in Claude Code. /loop 30m followed by your prompt runs it every 30 minutes while the session's open.

Start with one loop this week. Once you trust it, join a few together, and that's your first graph.