Let's be real. Sometimes you get stuck on something so simple, you don't even want to Google it. Or maybe you need to look smart in a meeting you didn't pay attention to.
Stop fighting the easy stuff. I use these prompts when I'm short on brain cells and need the computer to cover for me.
Here are 5 easy wins you can steal today:
1. The "What Does This Even Do?" Explainer
When someone pastes an unfamiliar code block or a terrifyingly long regular expression, don't pretend you get it. Get a summary first.
👉 Prompt:
Explain this [Code Snippet, Library function, or RegEx] to me like I'm a developer who just started their first internship. Break down the core logic in one sentence, then list exactly what it takes as input and what it returns as output.
💡 Example: Dropped in a complicated array map/reduce function $\rightarrow$ got a perfect three-line explanation that let me confidently say, "Ah, yes, it’s aggregating the user scores."
2. The Meeting Quote Generator
You're in a planning meeting and need to sound deeply concerned about technical debt or scalability without knowing the details.
👉 Prompt:
Give me 3 different, high-level technical concerns I should raise about this plan: [Describe the Plan, e.g., 'Moving our $auth$ logic from $microservice$ A to $microservice$ B'].
Format each concern as a professional-sounding, one-sentence quote that starts with: "We need to consider..."
💡 Example: For a plan to update a dependency $\rightarrow$ I got: "We need to consider the cascading failure modes if the rollback strategy is not instantly reversible." Everyone nodded.
3. The $Git$ Command Saver
You've made a mess in $Git$. You're on the wrong branch, you need to squash $12$ commits, and you're sweating. Don't look up $Stack$ Overflow.
👉 Prompt:
I am currently on branch [Current Branch Name] and I need to [The Mess, e.g., 'squash the last 5 commits into one', 'undo the last commit and keep the file changes', 'switch to the main branch without committing these temporary changes']. Give me the exact, safest shell command to achieve this, and add one sentence explaining what the command does.
💡 Example: Asked how to fix a commit I regretted $\rightarrow$ got the exact git reset --soft HEAD~1 command, saving me from googling $15$ different unsafe options.
4. The Boilerplate Blocker
You know what you need (e.g., a simple data class, a $JWT$ token check), but you're too lazy to type out the same fields or imports again.
👉 Prompt:
Write a boilerplate [Language, e.g., $Java$ class, $TypeScript$ interface, $Python$ function] that implements [Goal, e.g., 'a data structure for a User object with name, email, and ID', 'a basic endpoint handler for a $GET$ request']. Do not include any business logic, just the standard structure and required type definitions.
💡 Example: Asked for a $React$ component that fetches data $\rightarrow$ got a clean skeleton with $useEffect$, $useState$, and a placeholder fetchData function. Saved $10$ minutes of setup.
5. The $NPM$/$PIP$ Package Finder
You know what you want to do, but you can't remember the name of that one popular package that handles it.
👉 Prompt:
What is the most popular, standard [Language/Ecosystem, e.g., $Node.js$, $Python$] package for [Problem, e.g., 'validating input data against a defined schema', 'creating a command line interface']? Give me the package name and the exact install command.
💡 Example: Could not recall the $Python$ package for data validation $\rightarrow$ ChatGPT suggested Pydantic and gave me the pip install pydantic command. Done.
✅ The truth: The fastest way to finish a task is often to get the most boring parts handled by something else. Work smart, not hard (or barely at all).
👉 I’ve collected dozens more prompts like these (for marketing, social media and more).
You can save them or even create your own advanced prompts at AISuperHub Prompt Hub.
Top comments (1)
Thank you for helpful prompts!
On a side note, I guess, that LaTeX formatting is not properly rendered.