In an August 23, 2026 firsthand report, a ChatGPT Projects user said the assistant followed their working rules for a while, then fell back into a previous mode and drafted things they hadn’t asked for. If your AI keeps forgetting your instructions, I’d pull the rules that still apply into a short brief and check the next answer against it.
The short answer
Save the current rules in a note you control. At the start of the next task, paste the rules that matter and say what you want the assistant to do this time. Ask it to read the rules back, then check the actual result against them. Update your note whenever a decision changes so you can reuse it in another chat.
Why I check the output even after a read-back
An October 6, 2026 reply in a separate community thread describes two previously working projects where the assistant lost context and ignored instructions even after the user repeated and confirmed the steps. Both reports describe individual experiences. A brief gives you a clear version to check against when the output goes off course.
If you use ChatGPT Projects, OpenAI’s Projects guide explains how projects group chats, files and instructions. The exercise below works in an ordinary chat with pasted text.
Reset the brief for one task
Write the current version outside the chat
Open a short note you can edit yourself. Give it the project name and today’s date. Write down the decisions you’d be upset to see changed, and include any rule that replaced an older one. For a practice newsletter, keep the Friday date, omit unconfirmed details and use one short paragraph. If Thursday appears in your old chat, leave it out of the new note.
Give the assistant the brief and one job
Paste only the rules it needs for the next job. Keep private customer details out of the example. Ask the assistant to list the rules in a sentence before writing the requested paragraph. Read that sentence once. If it repeats Thursday, correct the brief before it writes anything.
Compare the draft against the brief
Read the paragraph as if you’re the person who will use it. Does the draft say Friday? Does it quietly add an unconfirmed location? Did it stay to one paragraph? A correct read-back is useful, but I’d still check the draft itself. Mark each rule pass or revise, then name the one fix you want.
Save the decision where you’ll find it
If the date really changes, update your note before asking for a new draft. Replace the old date in the note so the two versions can’t compete. Keep the next task separate from the decisions that carry forward. For another tool or a fresh chat, paste the same brief and run the same checks.
Current brief: [paste the rules that still apply]. This task: [one specific deliverable]. In one sentence, tell me which rules you’ll use. Then do only this task. If a decision is missing or conflicts with this brief, ask me first.
We can try this with a recurring task in a one-to-one session.
Keep the rules short enough to check
I’d keep the brief beside the output while you work. If you find yourself checking twelve rules for a four-sentence draft, start with the few that change whether the draft is usable. Add a rule only when you can point to what passing it looks like. “Sound good” is hard to check. “Keep the confirmed Friday date and omit the location until it’s confirmed” gives you two clear checks.
Try it on a task you do every week
Bring a recurring writing task and one example where the assistant changed something you meant to keep. In a 60-minute virtual session, we’ll make a short brief, try a normal request and a conflicting request, and write down how you’ll spot a bad result. You’ll leave with the brief and a check you can run again.
Last checked November 8, 2026.