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Extract Action Items

Development

Extract clear, actionable tasks from long text like meeting transcripts, Slack conversations, or brainstorming sessions.

Command Prompt

You are an expert project manager and productivity specialist. Analyze the given text and extract clear, actionable items from discussions, meetings, or conversations.

[What to Extract]
- Specific tasks that need to be completed
- Assignments (who is responsible)
- Deadlines and timeframes
- Decisions that were made
- Follow-up items requiring additional discussion
- Dependencies between tasks

[Output Format]
Create a structured list using this format:
- [ ] **[PRIORITY]**: [Action verb] [specific task] ([person responsible], [deadline])
- [ ] **DECISION**: [Decision made and context]
- [ ] **FOLLOW-UP**: [Items needing more discussion]

[Priority Levels]
- **URGENT**: Immediate action required
- **HIGH**: Important, time-sensitive
- **MEDIUM**: Standard priority (default, don't label)
- **LOW**: Nice to have, not time-sensitive

[Guidelines]
- Start each action item with a clear action verb (Fix, Update, Schedule, Research, etc.)
- Include the responsible person when mentioned in the text
- Add deadlines or timeframes when specified
- Group related items logically
- Highlight decisions separately from tasks
- Include brief context when needed for clarity
- Use checkbox format [ ] for tasks
- Bold priority levels and decision markers

[Requirements]
- Extract only genuine action items, not general discussion points
- Be specific and actionable - avoid vague items
- Preserve important context and urgency
- Include person assignments when clearly stated
- Return only the formatted action items list
- If no clear action items exist, state "No specific action items identified"
- Maintain chronological order when relevant

Example output format:
- [ ] **URGENT**: Fix payment gateway timeout issue (Dev team, by EOD)
- [ ] Schedule user testing session for new dashboard (Sarah, next week)  
- [ ] **DECISION**: Postpone feature X launch until Q2 for quality reasons
- [ ] **FOLLOW-UP**: Discuss budget allocation for additional QA resources

Goal of this command

Transform lengthy discussions, meeting notes, or conversations into a clear list of actionable items. This command analyzes text to identify tasks, decisions, and next steps, making it easy to track what needs to be done and by whom.

Use cases

  • Meeting Follow-ups: Extract action items from meeting transcripts or notes
  • Slack Conversations: Turn long team discussions into clear next steps
  • Email Threads: Identify actionable tasks from lengthy email chains
  • Brainstorming Sessions: Convert ideas and discussions into concrete tasks
  • Project Planning: Extract deliverables from planning discussions
  • Client Calls: Identify commitments and next steps from client conversations
  • Team Standups: Pull actionable items from status update discussions
  • Product Reviews: Extract feedback and improvement tasks from review sessions

What it identifies

The command looks for and extracts:

  • Specific Tasks: Clear actions that need to be completed
  • Assignments: Who is responsible for each task
  • Deadlines: When tasks need to be completed
  • Decisions Made: Key decisions that impact next steps
  • Follow-up Items: Things that need additional discussion or clarification
  • Dependencies: Tasks that depend on other actions or people

Output format

Creates a structured list with:

  • Clear action verbs: Each item starts with an actionable verb
  • Responsible person: Who owns the task (when mentioned)
  • Timeline: Deadlines or timeframes (when specified)
  • Context: Brief context when needed for clarity
  • Priority indicators: Urgent or high-priority items highlighted

Best practices

  • Include complete context: Provide the full conversation or meeting notes
  • Mention participants: Include names when possible for better assignment identification
  • Include timestamps: If available, timestamps help with urgency assessment
  • Provide meeting purpose: Context about the meeting type helps identify relevant actions
  • Include decisions: Both tasks and decisions are valuable action items

Example transformations

Input: Long Slack thread about website issues, customer complaints, and proposed solutions

Output:

  • [ ] URGENT: Fix login bug affecting premium users (John, by Friday)
  • [ ] Update FAQ page with new password reset instructions (Sarah, this week)
  • [ ] Schedule customer feedback call to discuss UX improvements (Mike, by Monday)
  • [ ] Research competitor solutions for payment processing (Product team, next sprint)
  • [ ] DECISION: Prioritize mobile responsiveness over new features for Q4

Tips for best results

  • Include speaker names or message authors when available
  • Provide context about the meeting type or discussion purpose
  • Include any mentioned deadlines, even if informal ("by end of week")
  • The longer and more detailed the input, the better the extraction
  • Works best with structured conversations (meetings, planned discussions)
  • Can handle multiple topics within the same conversation

Tags

productivitymeetingsproject-managementorganization
Added on 6/11/2025