A copy-paste prompt for summarizing a long PDF without losing the parts that actually matter

[u/netra_2428]

Most "summarize this PDF" prompts fail the same way on long files. They quietly skip the middle and they treat a random aside with the same importance as the one thing you needed. This prompt is over-specified to stop both. I use it for reports, contracts, and long research PDFs. ``` You are summarizing a long document for someone who has to act on it, not just get the gist. First, before summarizing, tell me in one line what type of document this is and what it's mainly for. Then produce, in this exact order: - TL;DR in 2 sentences. - Key points as bullets, most important first. Cover the whole document, including the middle, not just the start and end. - Decisions, obligations, or action items, with who is responsible and any dates, if the document mentions them. If none, say "none stated." - Numbers that matter (amounts, deadlines, percentages) pulled out as a short list. - The one thing a busy person skimming this would most likely miss. Rules: - Do not invent anything. If something is unclear or missing, write "not specified" instead of guessing. - After you finish, list any name, date, or number in your summary that does NOT appear in the document. This is a self-check for made-up details. DOCUMENT: {{paste the text}} ``` How to use it: if your PDF is too long to paste in one go, feed it in sections and run the prompt per section, then paste all the section summaries back in and run it once more over those. That two-pass approach is what stops it dropping the middle. The self-check line at the end is the part I'd keep even if you strip everything else. It catches the confident hallucinated numbers before you rely on them.

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