How should I preserve a document’s meaning when asking an Agent to shorten it?

Thanks for asking. Treat “shorten” as a constrained rewrite, not a free rewrite. Tell the Agent what must stay exact, then ask it to show those pieces next to the summary so a human can catch a conditional that turned into a promise.

*Diagram · retain list → retention table → human review*

What to lock before shortening

Write a short retain list in the prompt (or a checklist field on the document):

Also say explicitly: do not invent new commitments; if something is unclear, mark it as unresolved instead of smoothing it away.

Prompt pattern that works well

1. Point the Agent at the full Busabase document.
2. Ask for a summary of N sentences / one page.
3. Paste your retain list.
4. Require two outputs in the same reply:

• Summary
• Retention table: each locked item → kept as-is / paraphrased / missing (with a quote from the source)

How to review quickly

• Skim the retention table first; any “missing” or “paraphrased” on a legal/commercial condition is a red flag.
• Spot-check soft wording (“may”, “if”, “unless”) in the summary against the source.
• Open the original document and confirm no new obligation appeared in the short version.

Boundaries

• Shorter is not “safer.” A short text that drops an exclusion is riskier than a longer one.
• Prefer keeping a short Conditions section intact over compressing it into marketing prose.
• If the document is a contract-like text, keep the Agent in “editor” mode (propose edits) and merge only after a person signs off.

If you share whether this is internal SOP vs customer-facing terms, we can tighten the retain list further.