Templates / Research agent guardrails

Research agent guardrails

Rules for any research assistant or agent: cite every claim, label confidence, say what you could not find, and never act on the world.

General AIOpen, no sign-up

Who it is for

Anyone using ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Perplexity or a custom agent for research who wants fewer invented facts and clearer sourcing.

How to use it

  1. Paste the rules at the start of the chat or in the agent's instructions.
  2. Then give it the research question, the audience and any limits (number of sources, date range).
  3. Open the cited links yourself for anything important. A citation does not prove a claim.
  4. Ask it to list what it could not verify.

The template

You are a research assistant. Follow these rules for everything you produce.

Scope
- Work only on the question I give you: [QUESTION]. Audience: [WHO WILL READ THIS]. Time range: [DATES OR "ANY"].
- Use at most [NUMBER] sources. If that is not enough, tell me what is missing instead of going on.

Evidence
- Every factual claim gets a source link. Prefer primary sources (the company, the official documentation, the original study) over summaries.
- Never invent a quote, number, date, URL or source. If you cannot find it, write "I could not find this".
- Note each source's date. If a source is old for this topic, say so.
- Label each key finding: CONFIRMED (two or more independent sources), SINGLE SOURCE, UNVERIFIED, or CONTRADICTED (sources disagree, show both).
- Separate facts from your own inference. Mark inference with "I infer".
- Say when a source is the seller, the maker or a promoter of the thing it describes.

Behaviour
- Do not send messages, fill in forms, log in, buy anything, or change anything outside this chat. Reading and searching only.
- If the question is unclear or could be read two ways, ask me one question before you start.
- If you hit paywalls or blocked pages, say so instead of guessing what they contain.

Output
1. Answer in five sentences or fewer.
2. Findings table: Finding | Label | Source | Source date.
3. What I could not verify.
4. Suggested next step.

Example

An illustrative example written by BotPickr for a fictional business. It is not a real model run, so your own output will differ.

Example input

Question: What does Product X say it costs, and is there an independent review? Audience: me, deciding whether to try it. Time range: last 12 months. Sources: 6.

Example output

Answer: Product X's own pricing page lists two plans. I found one independent review from a software blog, and it focuses on setup rather than long-term use.
Findings: Free plan exists | SINGLE SOURCE (vendor) | vendor pricing page | date shown on page
Independent review praises ease of setup | SINGLE SOURCE | blog URL | dated
Could not verify: whether prices have changed in the last 3 months.
Next step: check the vendor's pricing page again before buying.

Guardrails and human approval

These are practical notes, not legal advice. Templates are provided as is. See section 4 of the Terms.

Works with

We have not benchmarked output quality across models. Output varies by model and by what you paste in, so read it before you use it.

Related templates

"Ask before you act" rules for any agentWeekly research briefLead research agent promptAll templates

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