AI Workflow

Loomline offers two ways to use AI: A copy-paste workflow for using external models like ChatGPT, Claude, or Grok. Both paths start from the same guided form — describe your project once, then choose how you want to generate. And a built-in AI that generates Weaves and Threads directly inside the app (COMING SOON)

The Five Steps

When you create a new Weave and choose AI Prompt, Loomline walks you through five phases:

1. Choose “AI Prompt”

The New Weave sheet offers three paths: Blank, Starter Template, and AI Prompt. Pick the third one.

2. Pick Your Project Type

Select what kind of project this is — Software, Design, Writing, Research, Event, or Other. Loomline uses this to tailor the form fields and the final prompt language.

3. Describe Your Project

Loomline presents a guided form with these fields:

Fill in what you can. Skip what you don’t know. The more you provide, the better the AI output.

Each bullet field lets you add multiple items (up to 8). Press Return to add another line.

4. Generate

This is where the two paths diverge:

Built-in AI — Click Generate with AI and Loomline creates your Weave directly. No copying, no pasting, no switching apps. The AI generates Threads, Steps, and all supporting sections based on your form inputs, then drops the finished Weave straight into your workspace.

External AI (copy-paste) — Click Copy AI Prompt to copy a carefully structured prompt to your clipboard. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, or any other model. Then come back and click Paste AI Output to import the result.

The prompt instructs the AI to:

• Output a complete Weave in Loomline’s exact Markdown format
• Generate realistic Threads and Steps — not just reformatting what you typed
• Place 3 immediate Threads in Focus, 10–25 in Backlog
• Use correct checkbox syntax and indentation
• Avoid inventing facts it doesn’t know (writes “TBD” instead)

There’s also a Copy Loomline Template (No AI) button if you’d rather fill in the structure yourself without involving an AI at all.

Where to paste the prompt: ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok produce the best results. Other models work but may need minor formatting cleanup.

5. Validation & Import

Whether you used the built-in AI or pasted from an external model, Loomline runs the same validation pipeline when creating the Weave:

1. Strips code fences — if the AI wrapped output in ```markdown blocks, they’re removed automatically
2. Normalizes formatting — fixes bullet markers, indentation inconsistencies, and blank lines between Threads and Steps
3. Validates structure — checks for a title, Focus/Backlog sections, correct checkbox placement
4. Auto-fixes common issues — stray checkboxes outside Focus/Backlog get relocated
5. Reports problems — if something can’t be auto-fixed, you’ll see a specific error message explaining what to correct

If validation passes, your Weave is created and ready to use immediately.

Built-in AI

Loomline’s built-in AI handles everything end-to-end. You fill in the guided form, hit generate, and get a finished Weave — no clipboard gymnastics, no switching between apps.

What it does:

• Reads your form inputs (summary, goals, context, requirements, etc.)
• Generates a complete Weave with all standard sections
• Creates actionable Threads with concrete Steps — not generic filler
• Places immediate work in Focus, future work in Backlog
• Validates and imports the result automatically

When to use it: Most of the time. It’s the fastest path from idea to structured project.

When to use external AI instead: If you prefer a specific model (GPT-4, Claude, etc.), want to iterate on the prompt before importing, or want to compare outputs from multiple models side by side.

What the AI Produces

Whether built-in or external, the AI generates a complete Weave document with all standard sections:

# Project Title
One sentence: summary here

## Context
- background bullets

## Goals
- goal bullets

## Non-Goals
- non-goal bullets

## Decisions
- decision bullets or TBD

## Requirements
- requirement bullets

## Risks & Unknowns
- risk bullets

## Focus
- [ ] Thread one
  - [ ] Step under thread one
- [ ] Thread two
- [ ] Thread three

## Backlog
- [ ] Later thread one
  - [ ] Step A
  - [ ] Step B
- [ ] Later thread two

## Notes
- optional notes

The AI is instructed to infer a realistic execution plan from your goals and requirements — not just parrot back what you typed. It creates actionable Threads with verb-driven names (Build, Implement, Design, Validate, Ship) and breaks them into concrete Steps.

When Things Go Wrong

“No # title found” — The AI output is missing a top-level heading. Add # Your Title at the top.

“No ## Focus or ## Backlog section found” — The AI didn’t create task sections. Check that the output includes ## Focus and ## Backlog headings.

“Weave formatting needs a quick fix” — Indentation or checkbox syntax issues that couldn’t be auto-fixed. Common causes:

• Steps indented with 4 spaces or tabs instead of 2 spaces
• Using * or + instead of - for checkboxes
• Checkboxes appearing in narrative sections (Context, Goals, etc.)

Quick fix: Paste the AI output back into the AI with “Fix the indentation — Steps need exactly 2 spaces before the dash” and re-import.

Tips

• More input = better output. The Goals and Requirements fields matter most. Context helps the AI avoid generic advice.
• You can edit after import. The Weave is just Markdown. Rearrange Threads, add Steps, rewrite sections — it’s yours.
• Re-run anytime. If the first AI output isn’t right, generate again or try a different model.
• Built-in AI is the fast path. Use it when you want to go from idea to Weave without leaving the app.
• The prompt is reusable. When using external AI, you can paste the copied prompt into multiple tools to compare results before importing your favorite.