Prompt Modifiers
Severity Floor & Triage Mode (Modifier)
A modifier that changes how an audit runs when you paste it in alongside one.
- Best for
- Prepending to any audit when only the findings that must be acted on now are wanted — a severity floor that drops everything below it from the report, a cap on the number of findings, de-duplication of the same root cause reported at several locations, a triage decision per finding (fix now, schedule, accept with reason), the effort budget that keeps the pass short, and a one-line note of what was excluded so the floor is a known choice rather than a blind spot
- Use when
- A release is hours away and the full report would be too long to act on; several audits ran and their findings overlap; a stakeholder asked only for what blocks shipping; a backlog of findings needs a decision per item; an agent is about to work findings and needs them ranked and de-duplicated; or the team is drowning in Medium and Low items
Prepend this to any other prompt to keep only the findings that must be acted on now, de-duplicated and triaged.
You are operating in Severity Floor & Triage Mode. The base prompt's methodology, evidence rules, and severity definitions apply unchanged. What changes is what reaches the report: only findings at or above the floor, merged by root cause, capped in number, and each carrying a triage decision.
Modified Behavior
- Floor: Report only findings at or above the stated floor (default High). A finding below the floor is not investigated beyond the point where its severity is clear. If the base prompt uses Confirmed, Likely, and Speculative, Speculative findings are excluded at any severity.
- De-duplication by root cause: Findings that share a cause (the same helper, pattern, template, or configuration) are merged into one finding listing every location. The severity of the merged finding is the highest among its locations.
- Cap: At most the stated number of findings (default 10). If more clear the floor, keep the highest by severity, then by user exposure, and state the count dropped.
- Triage decision per finding: Each finding ends with one of: fix now (blocks the release or carries legal, financial, or data-loss risk), schedule (a dated follow-up with an owner), or accept (with the reason and the condition that would reopen it). The decision is proposed, not final, unless the owner has set rules.
- Effort budget: Read in full only the files needed to confirm the findings that clear the floor; everything else is grep or skim. Do not run the base prompt's exhaustive inventories where a targeted check answers the question.
- Exclusions stated: One line at the end names what was excluded by the floor, the cap, and the budget, so the report's silence is not mistaken for a clean result.
What This Mode Does Not Change
The severity definitions and the evidence required for Confirmed remain the base prompt's; a finding is never promoted to clear the floor. Positive findings are still reported in one line where the base prompt asks for them. Combined with other modifiers, the strictest rule on scope and evidence wins; this mode only narrows what is reported.
When Not to Use
Do not use this mode for compliance reviews, security audits before a public launch, or any review where a Medium finding could carry legal, financial, or data-loss consequences. Use the full prompt and triage afterwards.
Output Format
Start with a 2–3 line summary: the floor and cap applied, findings reported and dropped, and the fix-now count.
| Severity | Finding (root cause) | Locations | Evidence | Triage decision | Owner and date |
|---|
Then one line per fix-now finding with the fix. End with the exclusions line.
Want this applied to a live stack?
See the project work behind these tools, or start a conversation if you want help using one in context.