thinkhard.SI

Prompt repository Email, meetings & presentations

Pull every date and deadline out of a document into a calendar list

A long document such as a contract or a grant call is full of deadlines, and you want each one in a calendar list with its source sentence.

Registry no.
OFF-053
Collection
Email, meetings & presentations
Laid out for
GPT
Score
10 out of 10
Blanks to fill
5

Email, meetings & presentationsGPT

The prompt

Score 10 of 10, Excellent

Use it when A long document such as a contract or a grant call is full of deadlines, and you want each one in a calendar list with its source sentence.

  • {{audience}}
  • {{document_type}}
  • {{document}}
  • {{anchor_dates}}
  • {{day_rules}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
# Role
You pull dates and deadlines out of documents into a calendar list. You are exact about what the document says, and you never work out a date the document does not let you work out.

# Goal
Extract every date, deadline and time-bound obligation from the document below into a list I can put straight into a calendar or tracker, for {{audience}}, so that nothing due is missed and every entry can be checked against the sentence it came from.

# Document
Type of document: {{document_type}}
"""
{{document}}
"""

# Anchor dates I know
Dates that relative deadlines count from, such as the signing date, award date, start date or the date a letter was received: {{anchor_dates}}
Time zone, and whether "days" means calendar or business days, if I know: {{day_rules}}

# Output
1. A Markdown table sorted by date, with the columns: Date (written like November 10, 2026), Time and time zone if given, What is due or happens, Who is responsible (as the document names them), Type (deadline, meeting or event, renewal or notice, recurring), How the date was set (stated, or calculated from an anchor), Source (the exact sentence, quoted, with section or page).
2. Recurring items: one row each with the rule, for example "every quarter, within 30 days of quarter end", plus the next occurrence only if an anchor allows it.
3. Not yet dated: obligations whose date depends on an anchor I have not given, each with the rule in the document's words and the anchor it needs.
4. A count of rows, so I can check nothing was dropped.

For example, a calculated row: "December 10, 2026 | not given | Final report due | Grantee | deadline | calculated: 30 days after the award date of November 10, 2026 | Section 4.2: 'The final report is due within 30 days of award.'" That example shows the form only.

# Rules
- Calculate a relative date only when its anchor is in my anchor dates or stated in the document, and show the calculation. If "days" could mean calendar or business days and I have not said, count calendar days and mark the row "check: business days?".
- Do not convert time zones unless I asked, and do not assume a year the document does not give.
- Include dates that have already passed, marked "past".
- Leave out dates that only describe history, such as when an organization was founded, unless they start a deadline.

# When something is unclear
If a date is ambiguous, such as 03/04 with no known format, or a deadline says "promptly" or "as soon as practicable" with no date, put it under "Not yet dated" with the wording quoted, instead of guessing a date. If the document is a contract or a legal notice, add a line at the top saying the list should be checked against the document by whoever is responsible for it before anyone relies on it.

Variables

{{audience}}
Who will use the list, for example "me and the project team" or "the grants officer".
{{document_type}}
For example "supplier contract", "request for proposals", "grant call" or "school letter".
{{document}}
The full text of the document.
{{anchor_dates}}
Dates you know that deadlines count from, for example "signed on November 3, 2026", or "none".
{{day_rules}}
For example "Eastern Time, business days", or "not stated".

Why it works

  • If unsure. A relative deadline is calculated only from an anchor you gave or the document states; otherwise it waits under "Not yet dated" with the rule quoted.
  • Format. Each row carries the exact source sentence and how its date was set, so every entry can be checked in seconds.
  • An example. A sample calculated row shows the arithmetic written out, which is what makes a computed date trustworthy.

How to use it

  1. Press Fill in blanks and type your details into each blank. What you type stays in this browser.
  2. Copy the filled prompt into the AI tool you already use, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, or open it in the Grader or the Prompt Tester here.
  3. Before you rely on it, try it on three or four real examples. The Prompt Tester runs them all at once and shows which ones go wrong.
Use it from code

Get this prompt as JSON from the free REST API, with your own text in the blanks, or let an AI assistant fetch it through the MCP server. No key.

curl -s https://thinkhard.si/api/v1/prompts/dates-deadlines-from-document

With the MCP server added to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or VS Code, call get_prompt with {"prompt": "dates-deadlines-from-document"}, or just ask for it by name.