Write useful Chat shortcuts

A Chat shortcut is a saved question. Choosing one fills the Chat composer so you can edit it before you send. Chat uses the note you opened or the notes you selected. A Chat shortcut does not run automatically or change a note.

Start with a clear task

Name what you want Chat to do: find decisions, compare changes, prepare a brief, or draft a message. Ask for an output you can scan, such as a short paragraph, bullets, or a table. The name helps you find the shortcut; the prompt is the text Chat receives.

For example:

List the decisions in these notes. Separate confirmed decisions from proposals and conditions. Cite the passage for each decision, and say when the outcome is unclear.

You can adapt the suggested Chat shortcuts in Explore. Save a copy to edit one; the built-in original stays available.

You can also open Shortcuts → Chat shortcuts. When you have no saved Chat shortcuts, choose Decisions and conditions, Who owns what?, or Prepare for a follow-up on the starter card. Epilude opens the shortcut editor with the name, prompt, and description filled in. Review and edit them before saving; choosing a starter does not send a Chat question.

Use the current Chat context

A saved Chat shortcut is available in a single note's Chat and in Chat across notes. Chat uses the note you opened or the notes you select when you send the question. The shortcut itself does not widen that scope. If your prompt says “this note” or “these notes,” check that wording before you send it.

If you need a complete inventory, use a narrow set of notes. Long notes and large libraries can exceed the evidence budget. Chat shows the notes and passages it used, and it may ask you to narrow the scope before answering an exhaustive question.

Ask for evidence and uncertainty

Request a source for each factual claim. Tell Chat how to handle an unclear owner, date, condition, or decision. A transcript speaker label alone is not proof that a person owns an action. A draft message should leave unknown recipients or dates as placeholders for you to fill.

Useful directions include:

• “Cite the passage for each confirmed fact.”
• “Put open questions in a separate section.”
• “Label suggested questions as suggestions.”
• “Do not infer an owner from a speaker label.”

Save and test

Open Chat → Chat shortcuts → Create chat shortcut. Add a name, description, and prompt. In the editor, Test chat shortcut lets you choose notes and see a disposable answer with sources. Testing uses one Chat question if cloud processing starts; the test answer does not appear in Recents. You can edit the unsaved prompt and test again, which uses another question if processing starts.

Saved Chat shortcuts belong to your Epilude account on this Mac. A Shortcut becomes a Chat shortcut when you turn on Show in Chat shortcuts or save a Chat copy. In Chat, type \ to open the list. Your Chat shortcuts and the suggested ones come first, then your other Shortcuts, which insert their text where you typed. The other Shortcuts appear while typing \ is on in Settings → Dictation → Shortcuts. Choosing any of them inserts text for you to review and never sends it by itself.

Chat shortcuts cannot verify facts that are absent from the selected notes. Check the cited passages before relying on a date, approval, commitment, or draft.