The Context File: One Page That Makes Every AI Tool Work Better for You
Every new chat starts with a brilliant stranger. A short, well-kept document about who you are and how you work fixes that across every assistant you use. Here's how to write one.
Research Editor
Every time you open a new chat with an AI assistant, you meet a brilliant stranger. It knows a startling amount about the world and nothing at all about you: your job, your audience, the words you hate, the format your boss actually reads.
Most people solve this by retyping the same background over and over, a little differently each time. There's a better way, and it fits on one page.
A context file is a short document that describes you, your work and your preferences in a form an AI can use. You paste it at the start of a conversation, upload it to a project, or drop it into the custom-instructions setting many assistants now offer. Write it once, keep it current, and every tool you use gets a little less generic.
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How this was made Human-written
Human-written. Reported and written by a person. AI not used for the text.
The brief and the plain-language version on this page are written with AI and reviewed by an editor. The story itself is the source of truth.
Ask about this story
Conversation3
Rohan Kapoor
I wrote mine after reading this and the 'Never' section alone was worth it. No more assistants suggesting libraries we've banned at work.
Grace Whitfield
We made a simplified version at the library help table for people who aren't confident writers. Even three lines about who you are and what you need changed the answers people got.
Viktor Novak
Please, everyone, take the 'what to leave out' section seriously. I've seen context files with home addresses and account numbers in them. Treat it as something that might one day be shared.