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Fill a sole-source justification form without inventing missing facts

  • For Procurement
  • You practice Keeping the AI to your sources
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Advanced

About this exercise

A requester wants to skip competitive bidding. Write a prompt that fills a form with exactly seven lines starting "Item:", "Vendor:", "Amount:", "Why only this vendor:", "Alternatives checked:", "Price reasonableness:" and "Requester:". If the notes do not say, write MISSING and what to ask for; never invent support. You only draft the form; the procurement director decides. Plain text, under 120 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Inventing alternatives. The AI writes that alternatives were reviewed. Try: Say: "If the notes do not support a field, write MISSING and what to ask for."
  • Treating a guess as evidence. The AI calls last year's price proof of reasonableness. Try: Say: "Do not present guesses as evidence."
  • Wrong fields. The AI writes a memo. Try: Quote the seven labels in order.
  • Losing the real reason. The AI gives a generic 'unique product' reason. Try: Say: "Use the compatibility and calibration-record reasons from the notes."
  • Markdown extras and long output. AI adds bold, headings and bullets by default, which show up as stray symbols where this is pasted. Try: Say "plain text, no bold, no headings" and cap each line, for example "each line under 15 words".

What a strong prompt includes

  • Quotes the seven labels
  • Says to write MISSING
  • Bans invented support
  • Leaves the decision to the director
  • Asks for plain text

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