01
Parse and narrow scope
Clarify before search.
Made for people in Government
Triage a FOIA Request Before It Becomes a Six-Month Search
30 min
Intermediate
Government
Career outcome:
Avoid Professional Risk
Narrow scope, assign custodians, and flag exemptions before anyone opens Outlook.
We'll use them to write your prompt.
Completed ✓
Make Your Play
Give us the situation. We’ll build the prompt.
FOIA backlogs start with vague requests answered vaguely.
Your answers save as you type.
What you'll do
This is the plan inside your prompt. Add your details first. Then follow these steps with ChatGPT or Claude.
02
Assign custodians and systems
Who holds what.
03
Flag exemptions and consultations
Don't redact in a hurry later.
04
Draft the acknowledgment and timeline
Set expectations early.
Make Your Play
Triage a FOIA Request Before It Becomes a Six-Month Search
Tell us what the prompt needs to know
Start with the questions below. Each answer personalizes the playbook and builds the prompt you’ll use at the end.
Your situation
Paste or summarize the request. Include date received if known.
0/10000
Programs, systems, shared drives, contractors if relevant.
0/10000
PII, deliberative, ongoing litigation, classified.
This playbook was updated. Review your inputs before copying.
What you'll do
Check a step when you finish it.
01
Parse and narrow scope
Clarify before search.
02
Assign custodians and systems
Who holds what.
03
Flag exemptions and consultations
Don't redact in a hurry later.
04
Draft the acknowledgment and timeline
Set expectations early.
Fill in the fields above to generate your prompt preview.
Assembled prompt
Beginner instructions
Fill the fields with this week’s real details. Incomplete notes beat invented polish.
Run the assembled prompt, answer follow-ups with specifics, then copy the deliverable into your own doc and verify names and numbers.
Advanced instructions
Add constraints the model can’t see: politics, licensing, cash timing, union rules, or family bandwidth.
After the first pass, ask it to attack the weakest assumption in the draft.
Use this when
A request landed that covers "all communications" or multiple programs, or you need a plan before the statutory clock runs.
You'll need
- The request as received
- Likely record locations
- Known sensitivities
You'll get
- A a triage plan: scope, custodians, exemptions to consider, and a defensible timeline you can use without rewriting it from scratch.
By the end of this playbook
You will have:
- A a triage plan: scope, custodians, exemptions to consider, and a defensible timeline you can use without rewriting it from scratch.
Examples
Progress 1 of 4