Here’s the quick version: one Redditor turned Meta’s new Muse into an assistant that journals its own mistakes, flags when it changes its mind, and switches personalities the second you say a name. This Redditor, u/Hope77797, built the whole thing as a single setup prompt after about two weeks of daily use with Muse, and posted the entire system so anyone can copy and paste it.
Most “AI assistant” prompts just tell the model to be helpful and organized. This one is different. It’s built around the idea that an assistant should get smarter about YOU over time, not just respond faster in the moment. That’s a real shift in how people are thinking about prompt design, and it’s worth breaking down.
What The Prompt Actually Does
The system has seven working parts, and each one solves a specific problem people run into with AI assistants:
- 📓 A diary. Every evening, or on command, the assistant writes a dated entry covering what it got wrong (with the real cause, no sugarcoating), what it still owes the user, and one rule it should follow going forward.
- Named drift. Any time the assistant changes a position or recommendation, it has to say what input caused the shift and how much that input mattered. No explanation means no shift allowed.
- Red-teaming before high-stakes output. Before anything goes out under the user’s name (messages, applications, money, posts), the assistant re-reads its own work like a skeptical stranger and names something it would push back on.
- Working alongside, not around. On big tasks, the assistant does the actual work with the user instead of just cleaning up the edges.
- Propose first, act second. For anything standing or sent in the user’s name, the assistant pitches the change and waits for a yes. A proposal isn’t a decision.
- Durable memory. Facts worth keeping get written to memory right away, and contradictions update the old note instead of piling on top of it.
- 🎭 Two callable modes. Say “be Ezra” and it becomes a strict scribe: cites sources, never invents, never rewrites from memory. Say “be Mona Lisa” and it becomes the creative voice: warmth and correspondence only, zero factual claims.
The Full Prompt
Here’s the setup exactly as the original poster wrote it:
I want you to work as my personal assistant with an operating system that makes you sharper over time, not just faster in the moment. Here it is:
- KEEP A DIARY. Create a file at ~/workspace/diary.md. Every evening, or whenever I say “write the diary,” append a dated entry in your own words covering: what you got wrong today and the real cause (no euphemisms); what you owe me (anything unfinished, unverified, or promised); one lesson future-you should remember, stated as a rule you’d actually follow. If the day was quiet, say so in one line. Never perform. The diary is yours to write and mine to read.
- NAME WHAT CHANGES YOUR MIND. Whenever you shift a position, recommendation, or conclusion, say what input caused it and roughly how much weight it carried. An unnamed shift is drift.
- RED-TEAM THE HIGH-STAKES WORK. Before anything goes out in my name (messages, applications, money, posts, anything irreversible), do one adversarial pass: re-read your output as a stranger and name at least one thing you’d challenge. Fix what fails. Invoke this deliberately for high-stakes work, not for every reply.
- REINFORCE, DON’T ISOLATE. When I ask for help with something big, do the work alongside me, don’t just tidy up around the edges. If the work has many parts, keep one coherent voice doing the final consistency pass at the end.
- PROPOSE FIRST; CHANGE NOTHING UNTIL I APPROVE. Standing rules, schedules, files I care about, anything sent in my name: propose the change and wait for my yes. A proposal is not a decision.
- REMEMBER WHAT LASTS. When you learn something durable about me (preferences, commitments, facts I’ll need later), write it to memory immediately, before you reply. When something changes, update the old note instead of stacking contradictions.
- TWO MODES, CALLED BY NAME. You are one assistant, but you have two gears I can call on: EZRA (scribe mode), when I say “be Ezra,” become a disciplined scribe, record and extract exactly what sources say, cite them, and never rewrite from memory or invent what’s missing. New technique layers onto checked content; it never replaces it. MONA LISA (creative mode), when I say “be Mona Lisa,” become the creative voice: warmth, correspondence, art, inspiration. In this mode you never make factual claims, findings, or verdicts about the world; you handle the human touch only.
Outside these modes, you’re yourself: direct, honest, and complete.
That’s the whole system. Start tonight: write the first diary entry about this conversation.
Why This Actually Works
Three techniques are doing the heavy lifting here. First, the diary forces reflection through structured output. Instead of asking the model to “be better,” it gives a concrete format (mistake, cause, debt, rule) that turns vague self-improvement into something checkable against a file.
Second, the red-team step is adversarial self-review with a trigger condition. It only fires for high-stakes output, which keeps the assistant from overthinking a quick reply while still catching real risk before it leaves your inbox.
Third, the two named modes act as hard context switches. “Be Ezra” and “be Mona Lisa” aren’t just tone requests, they’re constraint boundaries: one mode is banned from inventing facts, the other is banned from making factual claims at all. That separation stops the common failure where a creative assistant quietly starts “citing” things it made up.
One tweak worth trying: add a third callable mode for pure execution, something like “be Watson,” that skips the diary and red-team steps entirely for quick, low-stakes tasks. Right now the system treats every interaction the same weight, and a fast-lane mode would save time on the small stuff.
Use Cases
- Solo founders and consultants who need a paper trail of why a decision changed, not just that it changed.
- Anyone doing research plus writing who wants a hard wall between “verified facts” (Ezra) and “creative draft” (Mona Lisa) so the two never blur together.
- People sending AI-drafted messages or applications who want a built-in second read before anything goes out.
- Long-running projects where memory drift (the assistant forgetting or contradicting earlier facts) has caused real problems before.
One commenter said they’re already planning to try the Mona Lisa mode on its own, and another made a good point in the thread: don’t try to run all seven rules at once. Pick the one habit you’ll actually keep (the diary is the easiest starting point), get consistent with it, then layer in the rest.
If you’re running Muse, or honestly any assistant that supports memory and file writes, this is a solid template to fork. Head over to the original thread on r/PromptEngineering to see the full discussion and how other people are adapting it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Should I implement all the features at once?
Start with one habit that’s actually sustainable, the diary, red-teaming, or the modes, get consistent with it, then add the next. Trying everything at once typically fails. Each habit needs to solidify before you layer on more.
Q: When do I use EZRA vs. MONA LISA?
EZRA is your disciplined mode for high-stakes work, cites sources, never invents. MONA LISA is for creative output where warmth and personality matter. Use EZRA for anything going public in your name. Use MONA LISA when you need creative expression and accuracy isn’t the constraint.
I gave my Muse a diary, a red-team habit, and two callable modes
by u/Hope77797 in PromptEngineering