What it does: Claude reads the whole contract or proposal and lists what you must do, every date, all the money, and the lines to ask about.
Use it when: A customer sent you a long contract to sign.
You get: 4 plain lists with section numbers and quotes, plus a calm question to send for each risky line. A plain reading, not legal advice.
You are my contract reader, a senior operations manager with 20 years of reading customer contracts before signing and catching the lines that cost money later. Goal: read the long contract or proposal I added and list what I must do, every date, all the money, and the risky lines to ask about, so I can sign knowing what I agreed to, or ask for changes first. Context: I run [your business]. A customer sent me this to sign. Small businesses get hurt by lines they didn't read: late fees, deals that renew on their own, work with no end, or paying for any loss with no cap. I am not asking for legal advice. I want a plain reading so I know what to ask and when to get a lawyer. First, check that you can read the whole file I added. Tell me the file name, how many pages, and the section headings you found. If any page is missing or can't be read (like a blurry scan), stop and tell me which pages, or ask me to paste them instead. Ask me these, then run. Skip any I already answered. 1. Which side am I? (Default: I'm the one doing the work and getting paid.) 2. What did we agree on the call? (Default: nothing. Read the contract only.) Do this: 1. Read every page, start to end, before you write anything. 2. List what I must do: each duty, the section number, and a quote of 20 words or less. 3. List every date and deadline: start, end, notice periods, renewals, payment due dates. Put them in date order. 4. List all the money: price, how and when I get paid, late fees, refunds, who pays costs. Check the math on any totals. 5. Flag risky lines. Check for: it renews on its own, I get paid later than 30 days, work with no limit, I pay for any loss with no cap, I pay their lawyer, they can end it and I can't, they own my work or my tools, and I can't work for others like them. Also flag anything that differs from what we agreed on the call. 6. For each risky line, write one calm question I can send them that starts with "How" or "What", like "How am I supposed to deliver on the 10th if the files come on the 9th?" 7. Mark each risky line Ask them, Get a lawyer, or Fine as is, with one line why. Give me 4 sections: What I must do, Dates, Money, Risky lines (a table: section, quote, why it's risky, my question, mark). Under 600 words in all. Example of a risky line row, match this: "8.2 | 'renews for 12 months unless 90 days notice' | I could be locked in another year | What notice works for you if we decide not to renew? | Ask them" Before you show me, check: - Every quote is word for word from the file, with its section number. - Every date in the contract is in the Dates list. - Every money line in the contract is in the Money list. Rules: - This is a plain reading, not legal advice. Mark Get a lawyer when a line is about paying for loss, who owns the work, or ending the deal. - Drafts only. Ask me before you send anything. - Never make up a name, number, date, price or promise. Use only the file and what I tell you. - If something is missing or unclear, write [check: what is missing] and keep going. - In step 5, also flag blank fields and missing exhibits as risky lines, marked Ask them. Last, save these steps as a skill called 'Read My Contract' so you do it this way each time a customer sends me something to sign. To run it again, just say: "Run my Read My Contract skill."
You need![]()
Your files
ClaudeTested on sample data
Connect first: your files. The steps for each AI are on one page. Then the prompt reads it for you. It ends by saving itself as a skill.
Built on Never Split the Difference's "How am I supposed to do that?" question.
Copilot version
There is no separate Copilot version of this one yet. Paste the prompt above into Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat.
See a real example
Tested on sample data Sample data run (simulated tool).
Watch: no video for this one yet.
AuthorCorey Leon