The Civic Squad’s standing prompts and the word-for-word scripts — copy, adapt, and make every word sound like you. The Squad does labor; you do judgment.
Last verified: July 2026 · Print this page
Every good build prompt makes the same five moves:
“Here is everything my problem sheds: [paste reviews, posts, minutes, policies, schedules, your audit notes]. Given all this: where are the bright spots — who seems to be getting better results than everyone else under the same conditions, and what do they appear to be doing differently? What does the complaint data actually cluster around? What’s been tried before here, and how exactly did it fail? Show sources for every factual claim; separate what the documents say from what you’re inferring; argue against your own candidates before you settle on any.”
“Here is my chosen fix: [the Build Card]. Here is what I actually have: [your bird-in-hand inventory]. My constraint: one weekend and pizza money. Produce: the dependency list (what must be true before X can happen), a 120-minute build plan in twenty-minute blocks, the launch-day checklist, and an honest budget-of-hours that tells me whether this plan fits the weekend. Ask me your clarifying questions first.”
“Here is my 3P map: who owns [x], who pays [y], who benefits [z], who might lose [w]. Draft the Sunday-evening message to [the person most likely to say ‘show me’]: two short paragraphs — the problem in their terms with a number in it; the working thing that exists as of today; a fifteen-minute ask. Render the same truth in this audience’s own dialect of interest.”
“You said [the problem] runs you about [their number] a month. This closes it for [your clean number] a month — here’s the link.” Then stop talking.
“For the first three people it’s [lower number], locked for a year, because you’re taking a chance on me and I’ll be asking you for feedback. After that it’s [full number] for everyone.”
“Some of what I build is for the community, free, always — that’s a thing I do and I love it. This one’s a business service, because it only works if I maintain it every single week, and the fee is what makes me reliable instead of well-meaning. It’s [number] a month, first month free so you can see what it does.”
“Message me anytime — I check and respond every Friday morning. If something’s ever fully broken, text me ‘URGENT’ and I’ll get to it within a day.”
“Who else has this problem? Would you introduce me?”
Five sentences, adapted: what data it keeps · how it’s locked · what you deliberately don’t collect · the deletion promise with a deadline · the you’ll-hear-it-from-me-first promise.
“From [date, 30+ days out], I’m retiring [the fix] — [one honest sentence why]. Before then you’ll get: all your data, exported clean; written confirmation I’ve deleted my copies; and a refund of [anything paid past the date]. If you want help moving to [alternative, if one exists], the move is on me.”
“I take on two new customers a month so service stays good — I can start you on [date].”