Prompt book · Cross-tool

How to talk to alfred_ in shorthand

Why "send", "Y", "do same", and "that" all work, and when to be specific instead.

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The prompt

send

alfred_ holds context across a conversation. The current draft, the email you’re viewing, the last list shown, all of it is “in context” until something replaces it. That’s why one-word replies work, and why they sometimes don’t.

The four kinds of shorthand

1. Approval shortcuts

After alfred_ shows a draft or asks for confirmation, these all approve:

send / Send
Y / y / yes
go
do it

These work right after a draft is shown. They don’t work if there’s no pending action.

2. Repetition shortcuts

After alfred_ does an action, these tell it to do the same again with the next item:

do same
same
do the same

Useful pattern: alfred_ shows you 5 emails in a row to triage. After the first, you can just say same for the rest if the action repeats.

3. Reference shortcuts

When alfred_ has just shown you something, you can refer to it without naming:

that / it / this, the most recent thing
those 3 people, resolved against the most recent list of people
the second one / #2, by position in the most recent list
the first email / the last meeting, by position

4. Active context (no shorthand needed)

When you’re viewing an email, calendar event, or draft in the alfred_ web app, alfred_ knows you’re looking at it. So:

“Forward this”, no need to say which email
“Reply with: …”
“Move that to tomorrow at 8am”, when you’re viewing the meeting

When shorthand fails

Shorthand resolves against recent context. It can fail if:

Long pause between messages, alfred_ may have moved on
Multiple intervening prompts: “send” after several different drafts is ambiguous
Cross-session: shorthand doesn’t carry across days

When alfred_ asks “which one?”, it’s because the reference was ambiguous. Just be specific: name the person, the email, the time.

The “send to all” gotcha

send to all is convenient but risky. It means send the current draft to everyone in the recipient list as it currently stands. If you didn’t double-check the recipients, you might send to people you didn’t intend.

Better habit: read the recipient list aloud before saying send to all.

Multi-language shorthand

alfred_ understands prompts in several languages. Common shorthands work the same way:

Spanish: sí / enviar / hacer lo mismo
French: oui / envoyer
Italian: sì / invia
Portuguese: sim / enviar

Language switches in mid-conversation are fine. alfred_ matches the language of your most recent message.

When to NOT use shorthand

For anything destructive or hard to undo, write it out:

Sending to a large recipient list
Deleting bulk emails
Sending to someone you don’t email often
Anything financial or legal

Shorthand is great for the 80% of low-stakes ops. Be specific for the rest.

Variations

Y
yes
do same
same
send to all
go
Move that to tomorrow at 8am

Best for

Knowing when shorthand works (saves keystrokes) vs. when to be specific (avoids misfires). Read this once and you'll write half as much for the rest of your time with alfred_.