WhatsApp Recap Prompts: What to Ask

You uploaded a WhatsApp export. Now what do you ask the AI?

The request you type determines the quality of the output. A vague "summarize this" produces a vague summary. A specific request produces actionable results.

Here is a library of proven requests for different WhatsApp recap scenarios. Copy one, adjust the names and dates, and paste it into the chat.

How prompts work in ThreadRecap

ThreadRecap does not ask you to pick a report type. After you upload the export, the preview shows the people, the voice messages, and the period. You can narrow the date range and choose the recap language, and you see the price before you pay.

When you unlock it, ThreadRecap transcribes the voice messages and writes one structured recap of the conversation, with a chronological timeline and the transcripts. The structure adapts to what the conversation actually contains.

Everything more specific happens in the follow-up chat on that same conversation. You type a request, and the answer comes from the conversation, with citations to the original messages.

Why the recap comes first

The recap does the hard parsing work before you ask anything. It reads WhatsApp's export format: the timestamp layout, the <Media omitted> placeholders, the system messages that appear when someone joins or leaves a group, and the voice messages, which are transcribed and placed at the right point in the timeline. You never paste raw text into a prompt and hope the model understands it.

ThreadRecap supports exports containing 75,000 or more messages, which matters for long-running project groups or community chats that accumulate months of history. At that scale, reading the recap first tells you where to point your questions, so each request can go after the detail buried deep in the thread.

Catching up on a chat

Start with: the recap itself.

Best for: Getting a quick overview of any conversation.

The recap already covers the main topics, the important moments, and how the conversation developed. If you want it shorter, ask:

Summarise this conversation in five bullet points: the main topics, any important decisions, and anything that still needs my attention.

Use this when you just need to catch up on a chat you have been ignoring.

When the recap is enough

For personal chats, the recap is usually all you need. A one-on-one conversation about travel plans or a family group catching up on weekend news does not need decision logging or action item extraction.

For work chats, treat the recap as triage rather than a final output. It gives you enough orientation to decide whether you then need action items, decisions, or a topic breakdown.

Action items

Request to copy:

List every action item in this conversation. For each one: what needs to be done, who committed to it, the deadline if one was mentioned, and any task it depends on. Put vague suggestions that nobody took ownership of in a separate "unresolved" list.

Best for: Work chats where people make commitments.

What the answer contains:

• Who committed to what
• Deadlines mentioned
• Dependencies between tasks
• Items that are still unresolved

Use this after a planning conversation or project discussion.

Why the "unresolved" list matters

In WhatsApp chats, people often say things like "we should probably get that done by Friday" without any specific person accepting ownership. Asking for those cases separately stops them from being assigned to the last person who spoke. That distinction matters when you are using the answer to build a task list or update a project tracker.

Asking for dependencies surfaces structure too. If one message says "once Ahmed sends the contract, Lisa will review it," the answer can note that Lisa's task depends on Ahmed's. This is the kind of detail that gets lost in a plain summary but is critical for project management.

When a chat spans a long period, narrow the date range in the preview before you unlock the recap. A six-month project group will contain completed tasks from earlier phases alongside current commitments. Focusing on the last two or three weeks keeps the list to items that are still live.

Meeting minutes

Request to copy:

Turn this conversation into meeting minutes with these sections: attendees (based on who spoke), agenda items, decisions made, action items with owners, and open questions.

Best for: Work group chats that function as informal meetings.

What the answer contains:

• Attendees (based on who spoke)
• Agenda items (inferred from topics)
• Decisions made
• Action items with owners
• Open questions

Use this to turn a messy group chat into professional minutes.

How minutes work for group chat exports

Many teams use WhatsApp groups as a lightweight alternative to video calls or email threads. Asking for minutes fits this pattern. Attendees come from participation, not from a formal attendee list. Agenda items are reconstructed from the sequence of topics raised, even when the conversation jumped between subjects.

Ask for open questions separately from decisions, as the request above does. If someone asked a question that was never answered, or raised a concern that was acknowledged but not resolved, it lands under open questions rather than being folded into the decisions list. That is useful when you are preparing for a follow-up call and need to know exactly what still needs to be addressed.

Decisions and agreements

Request to copy:

List every decision made in this conversation. For each one: what was decided, who agreed, the date, any conditions or caveats, and whether anyone disagreed. Add a separate list of disagreements that were never resolved.

Best for: Long threads where agreements get buried.

What the answer contains:

• Every decision identified, with context
• Who agreed to what
• Conditions or caveats mentioned
• Unresolved disagreements

Use this before a follow-up meeting to review what was already decided.

The difference between a decision and a suggestion

One of the most common sources of confusion in WhatsApp work groups is that suggestions, tentative agreements, and firm decisions all sound alike. "Let's go with option B" might be a firm decision or an opening proposal, depending on what follows. A decisions request reads the surrounding messages to tell whether a statement was confirmed, modified, or left open.

Asking for conditions keeps nuance. If the group agreed to proceed with a vendor "assuming the pricing comes back within budget," that condition stays attached instead of collapsing into "agreed to use vendor X." Because each point cites the original messages, you can check the wording before you rely on it.

Topics in a long chat

Request to copy:

Break this conversation into its distinct topics. For each topic: the key points, the people most involved, and whether it reached a conclusion or was left open.

Best for: Long chats that cover many subjects.

What the answer contains:

• Distinct topics identified
• Key points per topic
• Participants involved in each topic
• Resolution status

Use this when a 500-message chat covered everything from logistics to strategy.

Overlapping and interleaved conversations

Group chats rarely stay on one subject for long. A discussion about a product launch might pivot to a budget question, return to launch logistics, then branch into a side conversation about someone's availability. A topic request separates those subjects even when they are interleaved rather than appearing in clean blocks.

The people involved in each topic tell you who to follow up with. A topic marked as open is a cue to address it in the next meeting or to start a separate thread where it can be handled properly.

Commitments and payments with dates

Request to copy:

List every commitment and every mention of a payment, price, or amount in this conversation, in chronological order. For each: the date, who said it, the exact terms, and whether the other person accepted.

Best for: Client work, supplier conversations, and anything that might turn into a dispute.

What the answer contains:

• A dated, chronological list
• Who made each commitment or mentioned each amount
• The terms as stated
• Whether they were accepted

Use this before you invoice, renegotiate, or hand the conversation to an advisor.

Choosing the right request

Tips for better results

Use date ranges

If the chat spans months, narrow the date range in the preview to the period you care about. A focused input produces a focused output.

Name the people in group chats

In large group chats, name the key people in your request, for example "only what Ana and Rui said". This removes noise and keeps the answer on the people who matter for your purpose.

Include voice messages

Voice messages often contain the most important information — the decisions, the detailed explanations, the emotional context. Always include media in your export if voice messages are part of the conversation.

Ask more than one question

The follow-up chat stays on the same conversation. Read the recap first, then ask for action items, then for decisions, then for a draft follow-up email. No re-upload.

Understanding what gets lost when voice messages are excluded

When you export a WhatsApp chat without media, voice messages appear in the text file as <Media omitted>. The AI sees only that placeholder, not the content of the recording. In many project groups, voice messages are where the substantive discussion happens: someone records a two-minute explanation that would take ten minutes to type, or states a decision that never gets confirmed in writing. Excluding those recordings leaves the recap and every answer incomplete. Including media brings voice message content in on the same footing as text messages.

When a very specific question makes sense

The requests above cover most needs. But you can ask for something narrower — like "extract all mentions of the Q3 budget" or "find every time someone mentioned the client deadline". Type it into the same chat.

The chat analyzer handles the hard parts (parsing, voice messages, long chats) while you focus on what you want to learn.

Combining broad and targeted requests

A practical workflow for complex projects is to start broad, then narrow down. Ask for the decisions list first, then ask a targeted follow-up about one vendor name or budget figure that appears in it. Each answer cites the messages it comes from, so you can jump from the summary to the exact moment in the conversation.

This approach also works across time. For a project group that has been active for several months, ask for a topic breakdown to understand the shape of the conversation, then ask for action items from the most recent four weeks only. The two answers together give you both historical context and current priorities, without trying to make one request do everything at once.

Try these requests with your next export