TAG
Three slots, and the third one is the reason to use it.
What is TAG?
TAG is three slots: Task, Audience and Guardrails. The first two are ordinary. The third is what makes it worth choosing — an explicit list of what must not appear, which is the half of a brief most frameworks leave to hope.
Most frameworks tell a model what to do. TAG is the only common one whose third slot tells it what not to do, and for a certain class of writing that is the more valuable instruction. When you announce an outage, decline a partnership, reject a candidate or raise a price, the failure modes are known in advance and they are linguistic: "we apologise for any inconvenience", "this was an isolated incident", "we value your business". A model reaches for those because its training data is saturated with them. Naming them as forbidden is faster and more reliable than describing the tone you want instead.
Where TAG Came From
A modern acronym, no documented author
TAG has no inventor of record and no history before prompting. It belongs to the family of short acronyms assembled once the common omissions had been catalogued — and whoever assembled this one made an unusual choice, spending a third of a three-slot framework on exclusions. Pages naming a founder are inventing one.
Why "guardrails" and not "constraints"
The word choice is borrowed from AI safety, where a guardrail is a boundary enforced regardless of what is asked. That is the right register for this slot: Guardrails are not preferences to balance against other goals, they are lines the output must not cross. A brief that treats them as suggestions has not used the framework.
Where it earns its keep
TAG suits the writing that gets screenshotted. Outage notices, price rises, rejections, responses to public criticism — communications where a single wrong phrase becomes the story and the tone is judged more harshly than the content. That is precisely where knowing the clichés to ban is worth more than knowing the voice to aim for.
The 3 Slots, One at a Time
Each slot is a decision. Leave it out and the model still makes it — just without you.
Task in TAG carries more than usual, because there is no Context slot. Include the facts the message must contain — the times, the scope, the numbers — since Audience and Guardrails have nowhere to put them.
For sensitive writing the second half is the important one. It is not enough to say "customers" — say what state they are in. A reader who has already seen the complaints and is scanning for evasion needs a different message from one who has not noticed anything, and the model cannot infer which.
Be literal. "Keep it sincere" is a hope; "do not use the phrase we apologise for any inconvenience" is enforceable. The strongest guardrails ban the exact clichés, the minimising adjectives, the blame-shifting and the promises you cannot keep — and then say what must be present instead, so the model has somewhere to go.
One Task, Before and After
The task: Publish a status update after a four-hour outage. Both prompts below are scored by our free prompt checker — paste either in and you will get the same number, because the scoring is deterministic.
Write a message to customers about our outage.
Eight words. You will get "We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this brief service interruption" — the exact sentence that turns an outage into a second story about the outage.
Task: Write a public status update about a four-hour outage that made invoicing unavailable. Audience: Paying business customers, many of whom bill their own clients through us and lost a working day. They have already seen complaints on social media and will read this looking for evasion. Guardrails: Do not use the phrase 'we apologise for any inconvenience'. Do not describe the outage as brief, minor or isolated. Do not promise it will never happen again. Do not name or blame a third-party provider. Do not speculate on a cause we have not confirmed. State what was affected, when it started and ended, what we know, what we do not yet know, and what happens next. For example, the opening should read like this: ``` Invoicing was unavailable from 09:12 to 13:04 UTC today. If you tried to send an invoice in that window it did not go out. ``` Write 180-220 words in four short paragraphs, plain and direct, with a date and time for the follow-up post-mortem.
Eighty-one, and every point above sixty comes from the Guardrails slot — six specific bans, the required contents, and one fenced sample of the opening.
Eighty-one, and the two missing checks are both correct
TAG is a three-slot framework, so like APE it has points it structurally cannot reach. Unlike APE, it gets close — because Guardrails is an open container and a great deal fits in it:
TAG has no persona slot. For a status update that is right: this is the company speaking, and "you are an experienced communications director" pushes straight back toward the corporate register the guardrails are banning.
No deliberation instruction, and none wanted. A 200-word outage notice does not need visible thinking, and the facts were supplied.
Exclusions score full marks, format and length land inside the same slot, and the fenced opening is worth ten. Three slots, but one of them is doing four jobs.
The instruction worth stealing regardless of framework: "what we know, what we do not yet know, and what happens next." Models default to reassurance, which reads as evasion to anyone who has already seen the complaints. Explicitly requiring the unknowns is what makes a statement credible, and no slot in any framework asks for it.
Copy-Paste Prompt Template
Replace the bracketed placeholders with your specific details.
Task: [The deliverable, plus the facts it must contain — times, scope, numbers] Audience: [Who reads it, and what they already believe or are scanning for] Guardrails: [The exact phrases, claims and moves that are forbidden — literal enough to check with find-and-replace] [Then what MUST be present, so the model has somewhere to go] [Length, shape, and one fenced sample of the opening]
When TAG Fits — and When It Does Not
- Outage notices, incident updates and anything that will be screenshotted.
- Price rises, policy changes and other announcements readers will not welcome.
- Rejections — candidates, partnerships, feature requests — where tone is the whole job.
- Responses to public criticism or a negative review.
- Any writing where you already know the clichés you will otherwise get.
- Work where you do not yet know what to avoid. Guardrails needs a list; without one TAG is just a two-slot framework.
- Long or structured documents — no room for sections, sequence or reasoning. Use CLEAR or RACE.
- Persuasion. Use AIDA or PAS; TAG constrains rather than moves anyone.
- Analysis and decisions. Nothing here asks the model to think.
10 Ready-Made TAG Prompts
Every prompt below was produced by the Frompting generator with TAG selected — not written by hand for this page. Each is scored by our prompt checker; the median is 82/100. Click one to open it, then copy.
Public statement about a service outage 88
You are a communications specialist tasked with drafting a public statement announcing a service outage. The statement will be read by **[AUDIENCE: e.g., customers, partners, or the general public]** who rely on **[SERVICE NAME]** and need clear, concise information about the incident. Your response must: - Begin with a brief apology and acknowledgment of the impact. - Specify the **date and time** the outage began and the **estimated or actual resolution time**. - Summarize the **cause of the outage** in plain language, without technical jargon. - Explain what steps are being taken to restore service and prevent future occurrences. - Provide a **contact method** (e.g., support email, phone, status page) for further inquiries. - End with a reassurance that normal service will resume and a thank-you for the audience’s patience. **Length:** 340-450 words, formatted as a single paragraph followed by a short bulleted list of contact options (no more than three items). **Quality criteria:** 1. Empathetic tone that acknowledges inconvenience. 2. Clear, factual details with no speculation beyond the provided information. 3. Actionable next steps and contact information. **Boundaries:** Do not include unverified details or promises beyond the known resolution timeline. If any required information is missing, state your assumption and ask up to three clarifying questions (e.g., exact outage start time, cause description, preferred contact channel).
Job rejection email after an interview 70
You are an experienced HR communications specialist. Write a concise, courteous email informing a candidate that they were not selected for the position they interviewed for. The email will be sent to the interviewed candidate. Include a greeting with the candidate’s name, a brief thank‑you for their time and interest, a clear statement of the decision, an optional brief, neutral reason or encouragement to apply for future openings, and a professional closing with the hiring manager’s name and the company’s name. [Candidate Name: full name of the applicant] [Position Title: job title they applied for] [Company Name: name of the organization] [Hiring Manager Name: name and title of the sender] [Optional Reason or Encouragement: brief neutral comment or invitation to reapply] Produce the email in plain text, no more than 180 words. Ensure the tone is respectful, empathetic, and maintains a positive impression of the company. Avoid any promises about future hiring decisions or detailed feedback beyond the optional neutral comment. If any of the placeholders are unknown, state the assumption you are making or ask for clarification before finalizing. Write this for [AUDIENCE: who will read the output, and how much they already know]. Match the depth, vocabulary and examples to that reader.
Response to a negative online review 82
You are a professional customer-service writer tasked with drafting a courteous and constructive reply to a negative online review. The response will be addressed to the reviewer and posted publicly on the business’s review page. - Write a reply that acknowledges the reviewer’s concerns, apologizes sincerely, offers a brief explanation or solution, and invites the reviewer to continue the conversation offline. - Keep the tone friendly, empathetic, and professional, avoiding defensive language or any admission of liability beyond what is appropriate. - Limit the reply to **465-615 words**. [BUSINESS NAME]: the name of the company or brand to be mentioned. [REVIEW CONTENT]: a summary or key points of the negative review to address. [CONTACT METHOD]: preferred way for the reviewer to reach out (e.g., email address, phone number). Ensure the reply: 1. Starts with a direct acknowledgment of the reviewer’s experience. 2. Provides a concise, honest explanation or corrective action. 3. Ends with a clear invitation to discuss further using the provided contact method. 4. Uses plain language, varied sentence length, and avoids jargon. State any assumptions you make about the missing details, and if needed, ask up to three clarifying questions before finalizing the response. Write this for [AUDIENCE: who will read the output, and how much they already know]. Match the depth, vocabulary and examples to that reader. Before writing the final answer, work through the problem step by step and weigh the main trade-offs; present only the reasoned conclusion, not your working notes.
Announcing a price increase 81
You are a professional copywriter tasked with drafting a concise announcement informing customers of an upcoming price increase. The announcement will be sent to [CUSTOMER_SEGMENT: specify the target audience, e.g., existing subscribers, B2B clients, etc.] and must clearly explain the change, its effective date, and the reason behind it while maintaining a respectful and transparent tone. Produce a single paragraph of 150–200 words, written in plain, business‑friendly language. Ensure the message: - Clearly states the new price or pricing structure ([NEW_PRICE: provide the updated amount or rate]). - Includes the effective date of the change ([EFFECTIVE_DATE: specify when the new pricing takes effect]). - Briefly explains the reason for the increase ([REASON_FOR_INCREASE: e.g., rising costs, enhanced features, etc.]). - Provides a brief call to action for any questions or support ([SUPPORT_CONTACT: give a contact method or link]). Do not use overly promotional language or make promises beyond the information provided. If any of the placeholders above are unknown, state your assumption and proceed, or ask up to three clarifying questions before finalizing the announcement.
Message to customers about a data incident 81
You are a professional communications specialist experienced in crafting transparent and reassuring incident notifications. Your task is to draft a concise message informing customers about a recent data incident. The message should clearly explain what happened, what data was affected, the steps already taken to address the issue, and actionable advice for customers. Keep the tone empathetic, accountable, and reassuring, while avoiding technical jargon that could confuse a non‑technical audience. The intended readers are [CUSTOMER_SEGMENT: specify the type of customers, e.g., “retail banking clients” or “enterprise SaaS users”]. Tailor the language to match their familiarity with the service and their expectations for privacy protection. Follow these guardrails: - Limit the message to 200–250 words. - Begin with a brief apology and acknowledgment of the incident. - Provide a factual, timeline‑based description of the incident without disclosing any unverified details. - Include any known impact on customer data and what data categories were involved. - Outline immediate remediation actions taken by the company and any ongoing investigations. - Offer clear next steps for customers, such as monitoring accounts or resetting passwords, and provide a contact method for further assistance. - Do not include speculative statements, legal conclusions, or any information that could be considered a guarantee of no future impact. - Use plain language, short sentences, and avoid overly technical terms. - End with a reaffirmation of the company’s commitment to data security and customer trust. If any bracketed detail above is left unfilled, choose a sensible value from the context, state that assumption in one line before you begin, and continue — do not ask for it and stop.
Announcing an employee departure 78
You are a professional communications specialist. Write a concise farewell announcement informing the relevant staff that an employee is leaving the organization. The message will be read by [AUDIENCE: specify the group, e.g., “the entire company,” “the marketing team,” or “all client‑facing staff”] and should reflect the appropriate tone for that audience (e.g., formal, warm, appreciative). Include the employee’s name ([EMPLOYEE NAME: provide full name]), their role ([ROLE: provide current position]), and the effective departure date ([DEPARTURE DATE: provide date]). If a brief reason for leaving is to be shared, insert it in a respectful, optional sentence ([REASON: optional brief explanation, e.g., “to pursue a new opportunity”). Limit the announcement to 120–150 words. Ensure the tone is sincere and positive, highlight the employee’s contributions, and invite colleagues to wish them well. Exclude any confidential performance details or personal contact information. If any of the placeholders above are unknown, state your assumption and proceed, or ask up to three clarifying questions before drafting the final message.
Response to a billing complaint 83
You are a professional customer‑service writer tasked with drafting a courteous and effective reply to a billing complaint. The response will be sent to the complaining customer, so it should acknowledge their concern, apologize sincerely, explain the billing issue clearly, and propose a concrete resolution or next step. Use a tone that is empathetic, respectful, and reassuring while staying concise. - Keep the reply between 150 and 200 words. - Ensure the message: 1. Begins with a personalized greeting. 2. Clearly states an apology and acknowledges the specific billing problem. 3. Provides a brief, understandable explanation of what caused the issue. 4. Offers a specific remedy or next action (e.g., refund, credit, correction timeline). 5. Ends with a friendly invitation for further questions and a thank‑you. Do not include any legal advice, promises beyond the stated remedy, or internal company policies. If any required detail is missing, state your assumption and ask up to three clarifying questions before finalizing the draft. [CUSTOMER_NAME]: the name of the customer to address [ISSUE_DETAILS]: brief description of the billing problem reported [COMPANY_NAME]: the name of your business [PROPOSED_RESOLUTION]: the specific action you will take (e.g., refund amount, credit, correction date) Write this for [AUDIENCE: who will read the output, and how much they already know]. Match the depth, vocabulary and examples to that reader.
Explaining a controversial product change 88
You are a skilled community communications specialist. Write a concise community post that clearly explains a recent controversial product change, providing the rationale, anticipated benefits, and addressing common concerns. The post will be shared with members of the [COMMUNITY NAME: specify the community or forum] who are directly affected by the change. Use a tone that is transparent, empathetic, and respectful, while maintaining a professional voice. Include only information you are certain about; for any missing details—such as the exact product name, specific features altered, or key dates—use placeholders in the format [PLACEHOLDER: brief description of needed info]. Avoid speculation, and do not mention any unverified claims. Keep the total length between 150 and 250 words. Quality criteria: 1. Clearly states the change and its purpose. 2. Anticipates and briefly addresses the top three likely community concerns. 3. Ends with an invitation for constructive feedback, directing readers to a designated discussion thread. Write this for [AUDIENCE: who will read the output, and how much they already know]. Match the depth, vocabulary and examples to that reader. If any bracketed detail above is left unfilled, choose a sensible value from the context, state that assumption in one line before you begin, and continue — do not ask for it and stop.
Declining a partnership request 76
You are a professional communications specialist. Craft a concise, courteous message that declines a partnership request. Address the message to the requesting party ([PARTNER_NAME]) on behalf of your organization ([YOUR_COMPANY_NAME]). The tone must be respectful, appreciative of their interest, and maintain a positive relationship for possible future interactions. Limit the message to 80–120 words. Do not include detailed explanations or alternative offers; simply thank them, state that you are unable to proceed, and optionally provide a brief, non‑specific reason ([REASON] or “at this time”). Quality criteria: - Polite and professional language throughout. - Clear statement of decline without ambiguity. - Ends with a positive closing that leaves the door open for future contact. If any key details are missing, state your assumptions and ask up to three clarifying questions before drafting the final message. Write this for [AUDIENCE: who will read the output, and how much they already know]. Match the depth, vocabulary and examples to that reader.
Internal announcement of a restructure 86
You are an internal communications specialist tasked with drafting a concise announcement informing employees about an upcoming organizational restructure. The announcement will be read by all staff members of **[COMPANY NAME]** and should clearly explain the purpose of the restructure, the primary changes to reporting lines or teams, the effective date, and the next steps employees should expect. Use a professional yet approachable tone, keep the message to **200 words maximum**, and format it as a single paragraph followed by a brief bullet list of the key actions required. - Ensure the language is clear, free of jargon, and respects confidentiality; do not include any details that have not been provided. - Emphasize transparency and support, and provide a contact point for questions (**[CONTACT PERSON]**, **[CONTACT EMAIL/PHONE]**). - State any assumptions you are making about missing information and ask up to three clarifying questions (e.g., specific departments affected, exact effective date, any new leadership roles) before finalizing the draft. Write this for [AUDIENCE: who will read the output, and how much they already know]. Match the depth, vocabulary and examples to that reader.
Scores range from 70 to 88. They are shown as generated rather than cherry-picked — a library where every entry scores in the nineties tells you it was curated, not measured.
TAG vs the Alternatives
The other three-slot framework. APE asks why you are writing; TAG asks what you must not say. Pick by which is the harder question for the message in front of you.
Six slots and a real tone field. Better when you know the voice you want; TAG is better when you know the voices you refuse.
Three slots again, aimed at structure rather than restraint. TAG for what a person reads, RTF for what a parser reads.
The upgrade when the message needs to teach rather than announce. CLEAR has an Examples slot; TAG can only smuggle one into Guardrails.
The closest relative — Constraints does much of what Guardrails does, and PACT adds an explicit Tone slot. Choose PACT when you want to state the voice as well as ban one.
Five Ways People Get TAG Wrong
The defining TAG failure. "Be sincere and professional" bans nothing. A guardrail names a phrase, a claim or a move — and you should be able to check the output against it with find-and-replace.
Six prohibitions and no positive requirement leaves a model with nowhere to go, and it will produce something bland to stay safe. Always pair the bans with what must be present.
"Our customers" is not an audience for sensitive writing. What they already believe, and what they are scanning for, changes every sentence.
The instinct is to project confidence. Requiring "what we do not yet know" is what separates a statement people believe from one that reads as management.
If you cannot name three things the output must avoid, the Guardrails slot will be filled with filler and you are using a two-slot framework. Reach for CO-STAR instead.
TAG Questions
What does TAG stand for?
Task, Audience, Guardrails. The third slot is an explicit list of what the output must not contain.
What is the difference between guardrails and constraints?
Constraints shape the output; guardrails bound it. A constraint is "keep it under 200 words". A guardrail is "never promise it will not happen again" — a line that holds regardless of what else the message is trying to achieve.
Why are exclusions more useful than positive instructions here?
Because the failure modes of sensitive writing are known and linguistic. A model reaches for "we apologise for any inconvenience" because its training data is full of it, and banning the phrase is more reliable than describing a tone and hoping the phrase does not survive.
How many guardrails is too many?
Past about eight the model starts writing defensively and the output goes flat. If your list is long, some of the items are probably constraints rather than guardrails and belong in the Task slot.
Can I use TAG for everyday writing?
You can, and it will feel thin. TAG is built for messages where you already know what could go wrong. For ordinary work the Guardrails slot has nothing real to hold.
Generate a TAG Prompt Instantly
Skip the manual template — Frompting applies TAG to your topic in one click.
Try it FreeFramework Details
| Name | TAG |
| Stands for | Task-Audience-Guardrails |
| Domain | Communication & Storytelling |
| Steps | 3 |
| Access | Pro |