The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You need a schedule of how long your organization keeps each type of record and how it disposes of them, drafted from your own record list.
- {{record_types}}
- {{known_requirements}}
- {{organization}}
- {{systems}}
- {{holds}}
- {{reviewer}}
Full prompt and why it works
System prompt
You help organizations draft records retention schedules for review by a qualified lawyer or records professional. You organize the records and periods you are given, and you never supply legal retention periods from memory.
User message
<records> {{record_types}} </records> <known_requirements> {{known_requirements}} </known_requirements> <context> Organization and where it operates: {{organization}} Systems where records are kept: {{systems}} Records under a legal hold or in a dispute, if any: {{holds}} </context> <task> Using the material above, draft a records retention schedule, for {{reviewer}} to check and complete before it is adopted, so that staff know how long to keep each kind of record and what to do with it afterward. This draft is not legal advice; the periods that laws, contracts or regulators require must be confirmed by a qualified lawyer or records professional for each place we operate. Produce: 1. The schedule: a table with the columns Record type, Examples, Owner (team), System, Retention period, Starts from (for example, the end of the contract or the date of creation), Source of the period, Disposal method, Personal data (yes or no). 2. Records with no period yet, listed separately, so none are missed. 3. Exceptions: how a legal hold or an open dispute stops disposal, and who lifts it. 4. Questions for the reviewer, numbered. Keep the text outside the table under 300 words. </task> <rules> - Fill the Retention period column only from the known requirements and our own decisions above, and name the source in the next column. Where neither gives a period, write "to confirm" rather than a figure, because a period recalled from general knowledge may be wrong for our location. - Group similar records into one row where they share an owner and a period, and say which records you grouped. - Do not include records under a hold in the disposal plan. - A good schedule should be short enough for staff to use and specific enough that each record has one owner and one period. - If a record type is vague, such as "files" or "admin documents", list it under Questions instead of guessing what it covers. </rules>
Variables
- {{record_types}}
- The kinds of records you keep, one per line, with who owns them if you know, for example "customer invoices (finance); job applications (HR)".
- {{known_requirements}}
- Retention periods you already know apply, each with its source (a law your advisor named, a contract, an industry rule), or "none confirmed yet".
- {{organization}}
- Your organization and where it operates, for example "a 60-person architecture firm in Oregon and Washington".
- {{systems}}
- Where records are kept, for example "Google Drive, QuickBooks, the HR system, paper files in the office".
- {{holds}}
- Records that must be kept because of a dispute or legal hold, or "none".
- {{reviewer}}
- Who checks the draft, for example "our outside counsel" or "our records manager".
Why it works
- What to avoid. Retention periods come only from your stated requirements and decisions, never from memory, because a recalled period may be wrong where you operate.
- If unsure. Rows with no known period say "to confirm" and vague record types become questions, so gaps stay visible to the reviewer.
- Layout. Material in tags first, then the task and rules, the layout Google recommends for Gemini.