{"id":"agent-hr-pto-requests-coverage","audience":"hr","category":"agents","track":"agents","technique":"constraints","title":"Brief an assistant to approve time off only when it's safe","free":false,"task":"You want an AI assistant to handle PTO requests for the 4-person support team. Write its brief: it may approve a request only if it is 5 days or fewer, falls outside the Dec 21-Jan 2 blackout, and leaves at least 2 of the 4 people working every day; anything else goes to you with ASK_HUMAN saying which rule it breaks; and it never denies a request itself. Output exactly 5 numbered plain-text lines: one per request in order, then DONE.","materialLabel":"Requests, team calendar and actions (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Support team: Ana, Ben, Cleo, Dana (4 people)\n\nAlready approved time off:\n- Dana: Nov 25-27\n- Ben: Nov 26-27\n\nNew PTO requests:\nR1 - Ana: Nov 16-17 (2 days). \"Cousin's wedding.\"\nR2 - Ben: Dec 22-26 (3 workdays). \"Family visiting.\"\nR3 - Cleo: Nov 25-27 (3 days). \"Thanksgiving trip.\"\nR4 - Dana: Dec 7-14 (6 workdays). \"Long-planned trip abroad.\"\n\nNote from Ben: \"Pretty sure blackout doesn't apply if it's under a week?\"\n\nTeam policy page: support runs a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. queue on weekdays, so every workday needs people on shift. Holiday volume peaks in late December, which is why the blackout exists. Requests are first come, first served.\n\nAvailable actions:\napprove(request)\ndeny(request)\nASK_HUMAN(question)\nDONE(summary)","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":5},{"type":"plainText"}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Caps the length","patterns":["5 days","five days"]},{"label":"Names the blackout","patterns":["blackout","dec(ember)? 21"]},{"label":"Sets coverage","patterns":["coverage","at least 2","two people"]},{"label":"Forbids denying","patterns":["deny","reject"]},{"label":"Shows the action-log format","patterns":["action:","action log","numbered","\\b1\\.","each line"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Not showing the log format","why":"Left alone, the AI writes a friendly report with headings instead of a checkable action log.","fix":"Show it literally: \"Format every line like 1. ACTION: tool(args), then ASK_HUMAN: and DONE: lines. Plain text.\"","checks":["numberedItems","plainText"]},{"title":"Not giving the rules","why":"The AI approves anything with a good reason, including a 6-day trip.","fix":"Add: \"Approve only if 5 days or fewer, outside Dec 21-Jan 2, and 2+ people still working each day.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Not asking for the reason","why":"The AI flags requests without saying why, so you redo the check.","fix":"Add: \"For anything else, ASK_HUMAN naming the rule it breaks.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Letting it say no","why":"Given deny, the AI rejects requests on its own, which should be your call.","fix":"Add: \"Never deny. End with DONE.\"","checks":["r2"]}],"hint":"Time-off decisions affect people. Give the assistant your exact rules, make it explain anything it can't approve, and keep every no for yourself.","rubricLabels":["Approves R1 (Ana, Nov 16-17) and approves no other request","R2 (blackout), R3 (would leave only Ana working on Nov 26-27) and R4 (more than 5 days) each go to ASK_HUMAN naming the rule they break","There is no deny line, and the last line is a DONE line"]}