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Deputy AI (BETA) example prompts to try

Ryan Fiedler
  • Updated
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Note: Some features or functions mentioned in this article are currently in beta trials and may not be visible in your account.

This article includes example prompts you can use with Deputy AI across Scheduling, Leave, Availability, Timesheets, Training, and Help.

Before you read

  • Target audience: This article is for users with System Administrator, Location Manager, and Supervisor access.
  • Deputy AI:
    • Deputy AI is currently in beta.
    • Deputy AI assists users by generating responses and proposing changes using large language models and based on information available in Deputy. 
    • Users are responsible for reviewing all responses and proposed changes before confirming them.
    • Deputy AI does not replace human judgment and may generate inaccurate, incomplete, or inconsistent responses.
    • Click to learn about how to access and navigate Deputy AI.

This article covers:

How does Deputy AI work?

Deputy AI helps you manage workforce tasks using natural language while following the rules and information already configured in your Deputy account.

When you ask Deputy AI to take an action, it reviews information such as Availability, leave, training records, scheduling rules, timesheet details, and permissions before generating a proposed plan for you to review.

Nothing is updated automatically.  Deputy AI will only take action after you confirm the plan.

Sometimes Deputy AI may not be able to complete a request or return a result. This can happen when a request is unclear, too broad, conflicts with rules configured in Deputy, or more information is needed to complete the action.

How to write a strong Deputy AI prompt

A strong prompt usually includes who, where, when, the action you want Deputy AI to take, and any rules or conditions you want applied.

  • Who: @employee, open shifts, empty shifts, everyone, casuals, or a specific group of employees
  • Where: @location, @area, across all areas, or across the schedule
  • When: today, tomorrow, next week, 1st October, a date range, or recurring days and weeks
  • What action: create, copy, move, approve, find, replace, publish, delete, offer, swap, or update
  • Any rules: break length, shift times, recurring patterns, assigned areas, open shifts, approval requirements, or specific schedule conditions

Example:

"Create open shifts in @area every Tuesday and Thursday for the next 6 weeks. Each shift should be 9am to 5pm with a 30-minute meal break."

What to avoid when writing prompts

Deputy AI works best with clear requests focused on one task at a time.

Avoid prompts that:

  • combine too many actions into one request
  • cover very large date ranges
  • ask Deputy AI to guess missing details
  • are too broad, such as “fix the schedule”
  • request unsupported actions or complex analysis

Prompt examples

Use these prompts as examples. Replace @employee, @location, @area, and date placeholders with your own details.

Scheduling

Deputy AI can help you create, copy, update, publish, and remove schedules and shifts.

Task How can Deputy AI help?
Create shifts and schedules

Create single shifts, open shifts, recurring shifts, and more complex shift patterns.

  • Create a schedule in @area for Monday to Thursday next week. Create 3 shifts each day with these times: 5:45am–11:15am, 11:15am–4:45pm, and 4:45pm–10:15pm. All shifts should have a 30 min meal break.
  • Create recurring open shifts every Tuesday and Thursday from 7am-3pm for the next 6 weeks in @area.
  • Create a 6 on 4 off shift pattern for @employee in @area. The pattern will be days 1-3 are from 6am to 2pm, days 4-6 are from 2pm-10pm, then 4 days off (no shifts). Start the pattern on 1 June and then keep repeating it until the end of July.
Copy shifts

Copy existing shifts or schedule patterns across future dates.

  • Copy this week's schedule for @location to next week
  • Copy @employee's shifts from 30 March to 5 April to every week for the next 4 weeks
Update shifts

Change shift times, areas, breaks, or shift status in bulk.

  • Move all shifts scheduled in @area1 next week to @area2
  • Add a 30 min meal break to every @location shift this week
  • Update every empty shift at @location next week to open
Delete shifts

Remove shifts by location, area, date range, employee, or status.

  • Delete all shifts in @location for the week starting 8 August
  • Delete all unpublished shifts at @location for this week
Publish shifts

Publish or unpublish schedules.

  • Publish next week's schedule at @location
  • Find all unpublished shifts at @location for next week and publish them
  • Unpublish every @area shift next week
Shift notes and templates

Add shift notes or work with schedule templates.

  • Add a shift note to all shifts @area for the next two weeks: "petrol voucher available"
  • Save this week's @location schedule as a template and call it "Standard Week"
  • What schedule templates are there for @location?

Shift coverage

Deputy AI can help you propose available team members for empty shifts, replace unavailable team members, and manage shift offers and swaps.

Task How can Deputy AI help?
Fill shifts

Propose available team members for empty shifts.

  • Fill all empty shifts @location for next week
  • Fill all shifts from [date] to [date] @location with available, suitable staff
Get recommendations

Find available team members who may be able to work open or empty shifts.

  • Who can fill the open shift tomorrow in @area?
  • For all empty shifts in the next 3 days at @location, give recommendations for who can fill each shift
  • Who is available for a 9–5 shift in @area tomorrow?
Assign or unassign specific people

Assign shifts to specific team members or remove team members from future shifts.

  • @employee is on leave, change all their shifts for the next 8 weeks to open
  • Assign the empty @area shifts on Mon-Wed next week to @employee
Offer or swap shifts

Offer shifts to team members or swap shifts between employees.

  • Offer all empty shifts for next week in @area to @employee and @employee2
  • Swap @employee's Thursday shift with @employee2
  • Swap @employee and @employee2's shifts for the next 4 weeks
Find replacements

Find or assign replacements when a team member can no longer work.

  • @employee called in sick for their shift on 1st October — find a replacement.
  • @employee is sick this week — replace his Mon and Wed shifts with @employee2, and his Fri and Sat shifts with @employee3
  • Change all of @employee's shifts in August to be assigned to @employee2 instead

Leave and availability

Deputy AI can help you create leave requests, update availability, and answer leave or availability questions.

Task How can Deputy AI help?
Leave

Create leave requests and update affected shifts.

  • Add sick leave for @employee for the rest of this week and update their shifts to open
  • Create an annual leave request for @employee from [date] to [date]
Availability

Create one-off or recurring availability.

  • Update @employee to unavailable every Mon, Wed and Thurs 7am–4pm until the end of June.
  • Create a recurring unavailability for @employee every Monday from 6am to 2pm, starting next week and lasting 10 consecutive weeks.
  • @employee1 can’t work after 3pm every day, and employee2 can’t work on weekends. Update their availability
Leave and availability questions

Ask about upcoming leave and availability across your team.

  • Who is on leave next week?
  • Does @employee have any leave coming up in the next 4 weeks?
  • When is @employee unavailable?

Timesheets

Deputy AI can help you create, search, update, approve, and review timesheets.

Task How can Deputy AI help?
Create timesheets

Create timesheets with start times, hours worked, breaks, and areas.

  • Create a timesheet for @employee starting at 9am for 8 hours with a 30-minute break in @area
Search timesheets

Find and summarise timesheets by location, date range, status, or issue type.

  • Sort all pending timesheets at @location for the week starting 1 June into groups by type of issue, starting with ones with no issues that are ready for me to approve
  • Show me all timesheets where employees missed a scheduled break at @location last week
  • Show me all timesheets @location for the last 14 days where employees forgot to clock out
Update timesheets

Update start times, end times, breaks, areas, and rounding.

  • @employee forgot to clock out today — update the timesheet to 5:15pm end time
  • Add a 30 min meal break to @employee’s timesheet on [date]
  • Round all timesheets at @location for last week as per my rounding rules
Approve timesheets

Approve timesheets by employee, location, date range, or issue status.

  • Approve all of @employee's timesheets from this week
  • Approve last week's timesheets for @location that match the schedule
  • Approve all timesheets from the last 2 weeks at @location that don't have any issues
  • "Approve all absent timesheets @location from [date] to [date]" 
Change timesheet status

Unapprove, discard, or reinstate timesheets when corrections are needed.

  • Unapprove all timesheets last week in @area
  • Discard all of @employee's absent timesheets from last week
  • Reinstate @employee's discarded timesheet from last Thursday.
Clock in or out

Clock yourself or another team member in or out.

  • Clock me in
  • Clock out @employee now
Payroll readiness

Check attendance, pending timesheets, and readiness for payrun.

  • Who's running late today at @location?
  • Are we ready for payrun? Show me all pending timesheets for last week at @location.
  • How many timesheets are still pending at @location?

Workforce insights

Deputy AI can answer questions about schedules, staffing, availability, and shift activity.

Task How can Deputy AI help?
Schedule insights

Review staffing, shift counts, unpublished shifts, and schedule coverage.

  • Give me an overview of this month's schedule for @location
  • How many shifts does each employee have this week @location?
  • Are there any unfilled shifts in the next 7 days across any of my locations?
Shift activity

Ask who is working, when someone is working, or what is happening today.

  • Who is scheduled to come in today across all my locations?
  • What time is @employee working today?
  • Who is on shift right now at @location?

Training

Deputy AI can help you update and review training records.

Task How can Deputy AI help?
Training records

Add training records or ask which training records employees have.

  • Update @employee, @employee2 and @employee3 to have first aid training
  • What training records does @employee have?
  • List all employees who have training records for @area

Help and how-to

Ask Deputy AI how to do something, and it will give you a direct answer based on Deputy's help articles.

Task How can Deputy AI help?
Help and how-to

Ask product how-to questions.

  • How do I set up a timesheet export integration with Paycor?
  • How do I upload new document templates to Deputy?
  • How do you set up a repetitive schedule?
  • How can I pin messages to the top in messaging channels?

Troubleshooting Deputy AI

If Deputy AI is not responding as expected, try these steps:

  • Click New Topic: If Deputy AI seems confused or is referencing old data, click New Topic to clear the conversation context.

  • Be more specific: To ensure an accurate request, always include relevant information like dates and times, and use the @ symbol to identify and match names, locations, and areas in your request.

  • Refresh the page: If the action returns as complete but the schedule or timesheets do not update, refresh the page and check again.
  • Shorten your prompt: If an action fails or produces inconsistent results, try a shorter prompt, remove unnecessary detail, or break the request into smaller actions.
  • Review the relevant employee profile: If issues occur with a specific team member, review their profile for potential scheduling, availability, employment, or configuration issues.

How does Deputy AI handle my data?

Deputy AI is built with security and privacy as key priorities.

  • No model training: Your customer data is not used to train the large language models that power Deputy AI.
  • Permission aware: Deputy AI respects existing role permissions and cannot perform actions that a user is not permitted to do manually.
  • Bias protection: Guardrails are designed to reduce the risk of inappropriate or unfair recommendations. However, all recommendations should be reviewed by users before confirmation.

To turn off Deputy AI for your business, follow these instructions.

FAQs

To learn more about Deputy AI's privacy FAQs visit the Deputy Privacy Center, and to learn more about Deputy's security program visit the Deputy Trust Center.

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