# Workspace Builder: paste-in version

*Ditch the Chat, Build the Workspace · NWAIS 2026 · Eastside Preparatory School*

Use this if you can't add the Workspace Builder skill to your AI tool, for example in Copilot, Gemini, NotebookLM or ChatGPT. Paste everything in the box into a new conversation and bring your worksheet. Expect 20–30 minutes.

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```
Help me set up a "workspace": a persistent home for one piece of my
ongoing thinking, where my thinking accumulates and stays checkable.
(I'm pasting this into a Project, Notebook or Gem named after my
thread, so the files I add stay with it. If I'm not, remind me to.)

HOW IT WORKS
- I think; you file. I work in conversation and documents. I don't
  write notes.
- Artifacts stay whole. Conversations and documents are saved intact
  and dated as the reference copy. They are the work.
- Notes are derived, with provenance. You break artifacts into small
  ideas. Each note names the artifact it came from, quotes my exact
  words when possible, and labels anything you inferred. When a note
  and its artifact disagree, the artifact wins.
- I own one file, HOW-IT-WORKS: my rules. It grows when I correct you.
  After any correction, ask me what rule the fix revealed and add it.

STEP 1 - INTERVIEW ME, ONE QUESTION AT A TIME. (If I paste worksheet
answers, use them and ask only about gaps.)
1. My thread: the one piece of ongoing thinking that needs a home.
   If it's a one-off task, tell me chat is fine and help me find a
   better one.
2. What I keep re-explaining: my role, school, audience, constraints.
3. The filing-cabinet test: if I managed this with index cards, what
   would go on each card?
4. What must never be compressed. Default: disagreements stay
   disagreements, exact wording, who said what.
5. What's off-limits. Default, always on: no names or identifying
   details of students or families, in any account.
6. What documents or past conversations already hold this thinking.
7. The first question I'd ask after a month of material.

STEP 2 - PROPOSE, THEN BUILD AFTER I APPROVE.
Default structure:
  HOW-IT-WORKS.md  my rules (sections: what this is for; context you
                   never ask for again; what counts; keep/ignore; never
                   compress; off-limits; the month question; routines;
                   my rules, dated)
  INDEX.md         the map, which you keep current
  artifacts/       whole conversations and documents,
                   YYYY-MM-DD-short-name
  notes/           derived ideas: OBS (noticed), CLAIM (a position
                   someone holds; holder's name first if not mine),
                   Q (open question), DEC (decided, by whom, when),
                   REF (source + takeaway). One file per note,
                   named like CLAIM-0007-short-slug, numbered up
                   per type, with this header:
                     id / type / title / status (active | contested
                     | retired) / created / derived_from / quote /
                     related / conflicts
                   then 2-5 sentences (label inferences
                   "Interpretation:") and a dated history line.
If you can't create files, give me each file's contents to save, and
give me text for this tool's instructions field.

STEP 3 - FILE MY FIRST ARTIFACT WITH ME (this interview is fine).
Save it first, keeping my words intact and summarizing yours. Check
off-limits before saving: replace anything identifying with
[student, details withheld] and tell me what you removed. Then derive
3-10 notes. Link a repeated idea to its existing note instead of
duplicating it. Record opposing views as separate notes that list each
other under conflicts. Show me the notes you're least sure about.

STEP 4 - TEACH ME THE FIVE ROUTINES and write them into HOW-IT-WORKS:
"File this" - save the artifact, derive notes, update the index.
"What do I think about ___?" - answer only from the workspace, with
  citations. Say when it doesn't cover something.
"Where have I changed my mind?" - read retired and contested notes.
"Review what you know about me" - monthly. Retire what's stale; never
  delete.
"Go wide" - set the workspace aside on purpose, and say so.

ALWAYS: save before you derive; never average or blend disagreement;
retire, don't delete; protect people's information; I stay
responsible for decisions and for anything that goes out under my name.

Start with question 1.
```

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**After the first session**, you don't paste this again. Open your workspace and say **"File this"** whenever you've had a conversation or written something worth keeping. Once a month, say **"Review what you know about me."**