104 ChatGPT Codes to Study Any Book
Paste one priming prompt into ChatGPT, then turn any book, chapter, or PDF into visual study notes, a map of its big ideas, a chapter map, and a theme board with the four codes from the video. Then 100 more short codes for reading faster, remembering more, testing yourself, and putting the book to work.
Save it, print it, read it offline. It's yours.
You can learn a book without reading every page twice, and remember it a month later instead of a day later. Paste one priming prompt into ChatGPT, name the book, and type a short code. Back comes a page of visual notes, a map of the big ideas, a chapter map, or a theme board you can save to your phone. The four codes from the video are at the top. After them, 100 more cover everything else you do with a book: deciding if it’s worth your time, reading it faster, pulling out the best parts, making it stick, testing yourself, and putting it to work on Monday. The books from the video, The Power of Habit, The Psychology of Money, Grit, and Mindset, are the examples throughout. Swap in yours.
A ChatGPT code is a short word you type after a slash, like /visualnotes, that stands for a full instruction. ChatGPT reads the word and does what it says to the book, chapter, or PDF you gave it. There is no hidden menu and nothing to install. The word is the prompt.
ChatGPT, on your phone or your computer, on any plan. A book you want to learn: a chapter you can paste, a PDF you can upload, or the title and author of a book ChatGPT already knows. That's it.
ChatGPT doesn’t come with these codes. There’s no menu where /chaptermap lives. When you type it, ChatGPT reads the word, works out what you mean, and does it. That’s why the codes work on any plan with nothing installed, and why “/chaptermap chapter 3” usually works even without the priming prompt. To make every code in this guide reliable, prime the chat once. Paste this at the top of a new chat and every code in this guide works for the rest of the conversation:
For the rest of this chat, when I type a word that starts with a slash, treat it as a shorthand instruction and run it on the book or text I give you. /visualnotes means one image of visual study notes. /mentalmodels means one image mapping the book's core ideas. /chaptermap means one image mapping a single chapter. /themes means one image of the book's major themes. For any other slash word, do what the word says, as text, kept short and easy to scan. Don't explain the code back to me. Run it.If you’ll do this with more than one book, open Projects in ChatGPT, make one called “Books,” and paste that into its instructions. Every chat in the project already knows the codes.
Giving it the book. For a well-known book, name it: “The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.” For anything else, paste the chapter, or tap the plus button and upload the PDF. For a long book, go one chapter at a time in the same chat. If ChatGPT says it doesn’t know the book, or gets the details wrong, paste the chapter instead of naming it. The free version of ChatGPT handles every text code here and makes a limited number of images a day; when you hit the cap, add “as text” to the code and run it again.
Each of these comes back as one image. Put the book’s title and author in the brackets, paste, and save what comes back to your phone.
/visualnotes: One page of visual study notes
/visualnotes Turn the book [TITLE by AUTHOR] into visual study notes. Use short sections, icons, arrows, diagrams, callout boxes, and minimal text. Make the visual congruent with the book./mentalmodels: The book’s core ideas as a map
/mentalmodels Pull out the core ideas of [TITLE by AUTHOR] and turn them into one visual map. For each idea show what it means, a simple example, and how it connects to the others. Minimal text./chaptermap: One chapter, mapped
/chaptermap Map chapter [NUMBER] of [TITLE by AUTHOR] as one visual: the main idea, the supporting concepts, the examples, the key people or events, and how everything fits together. Minimal text./themes: The major themes and what carries them
/themes Find the major themes in [TITLE by AUTHOR] and turn them into one visual theme board. Connect each theme to the characters, events, and ideas that carry it, and end with the deeper message of the book. Minimal text.The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, Grit by Angela Duckworth, and Mindset by Carol Dweck. All four codes work on all four, and on any book ChatGPT knows.
Same chat, same book. Type the code after the book or chapter you’ve given ChatGPT. They’re grouped by where you are with the book, from deciding whether to open it to filing it away when you’re done.
Ten minutes with these codes saves you the ten hours on the wrong book. Type the title and author, “Mindset by Carol Dweck,” then the code.
/worthitTell me in five sentences what this book argues, who it's for, and whether someone in my situation should read it. Then ask me one question about my situation and answer again. → a go or no-go
/readingtimeEstimate how long this book takes to read at a normal pace, and which chapters carry most of the value if I only have two hours. → a time budget
/hardpartsTell me which parts of this book readers find slow, dense, or confusing, and what to know going in so they're easier. → a heads-up
/readorderSuggest an order to read the chapters that isn't front to back, if one would help, and say why. → a reading plan
/skiptoI'll tell you what I want out of this book. Point me to the three chapters that deliver it. → the chapters that matter
/questionstoaskGive me five questions to hold in my head while I read, so I read actively instead of just turning pages. → an active-reading lens
/authorangleTell me who the author is, what they do, and what bias or point of view that might bring to this book. → the author's angle
/similarbooksName three books that cover the same ground, and in one line each say how this one is different. → the alternatives
/onepageGive me a one-page overview of this book so I know the shape of it before I start. → the shape of the book
/readyquizAsk me five quick questions to find out what I already know about this topic, then tell me which chapters I can skim. → what you can skim
Paste the chapter you just finished, then the code. Same chat for the whole book, so “so far” means something.
/chapterin3Summarize this chapter in exactly three sentences. → a three-line summary
/sofarSummarize everything that matters in the book so far, in under 150 words, so I can pick it back up tomorrow. → a running recap
/watchforTell me what to pay attention to in the next chapter and what from this one will come back later. → a preview
/confusingI'll tell you the part that lost me. Explain it a different way, with one everyday example. → a second explanation
/whyhereExplain why the author put this chapter here, and what it sets up for the rest of the book. → the chapter's job
/nextchapterBased on what I've read, predict what the next chapter will argue. I'll check it against the real one. → a prediction to test
/whosaidwhatList every person named in this chapter and what they said, did, or stand for in the book. → a who's who
/argumentcheckLay out this chapter's argument as a numbered chain of claims, and mark any step the author asserts without proving. → the argument, link by link
/marginGive me ten short margin notes for this chapter, the kind I'd scribble next to the paragraph, with the paragraph each one belongs to. → margin notes
/rereadTell me the one passage in this chapter worth reading twice, and why. → the one passage
The parts of a book you’ll want to find again in a year. Paste a chapter or name the book.
/quotebankPull the ten lines from this chapter most worth quoting, with the paragraph each comes from. Keep the author's words exactly. → a quote bank
/numbersPull every number, statistic, and date in this chapter, each with the sentence it sits in, so I can check it later. → a fact list
/glossaryList every term the author defines or uses in a special way, with the definition in plain English. → a glossary
/modelsExtract any framework, method, or step-by-step process the author describes, as a reusable template. → a reusable framework
/storiesList every story, case, and real example the author uses, with one line on what each one proves. → an example bank
/rulesTurn this chapter's advice into short rules I could pin above my desk. → desk rules
/questionsraisedList the questions this chapter raises that it doesn't answer. → the open questions
/surprisesTell me the three most surprising or counterintuitive claims in this chapter. → the surprises
/disagreeTell me where a thoughtful critic would disagree with this chapter, and how the author would answer. → the counterargument
/evidenceFor each main claim in this chapter, tell me what evidence the author gives and how strong it is. → a strength check
Reading a chapter again feels like studying. Being asked about it is studying. These make the asking automatic.
/cards20Make 20 flashcards from this chapter: question on one line, answer on the next, most important first. → a flashcard deck
/blanksMake 15 fill-in-the-blank sentences from this chapter, with the answers listed at the bottom after a row of dashes. → a fill-in test
/recallwalkAsk me to tell you everything I remember from this chapter. Then show me only what I left out or got wrong. → a gap check
/teachitbackI'll explain this chapter's main idea to you like you're new to it. Correct me like a patient tutor and tell me what to add. → a tutor's corrections
/sevendayBuild me a seven-day review schedule for this book: what to re-read or quiz on each day, ten minutes a day. → a review calendar
/hooksGive me a memory hook, a mnemonic, a rhyme, or a picture, for every list or sequence in this chapter. → memory hooks
/singlelineBoil this chapter down to one sentence I could recite a year from now. → one sentence to keep
/pairsGive me 15 terms from this chapter as a numbered list, then the meanings in a second list below a row of dashes, so I can cover the answers and test myself. → a self-test table
/chainShow the chapter's ideas as a chain of cause and effect, each link one line, so I can recite the chain instead of the chapter. → a cause-and-effect chain
/mixQuiz me on this chapter and the two before it together, mixed up, so I can't guess from the order. → a mixed quiz
For an exam, an essay, or a meeting where someone’s going to ask what you thought.
/quiz10Write a ten-question quiz on this chapter, mixed multiple choice and short answer, answer key at the bottom. → a ten-question quiz
/oneatatimeQuiz me on this chapter one question at a time. Wait for my answer, tell me if I'm right in one line, then ask the next without asking if I'm ready. → an interactive drill
/hardestAsk me the five hardest questions a professor could ask about this chapter. → the hard questions
/essayqGive me five essay questions on this book, each with a three-point outline of a strong answer. → essay prep
/trueorfalseGive me 15 true-or-false statements about this chapter, including some that are tricky, with answers at the bottom. → a true-or-false round
/defendTake the opposite position to this chapter and argue with me, so I learn to defend the author's view. → argument practice
/spotGive me a short passage that misstates this chapter's idea in one subtle way. I'll find the error. → an error hunt
/examdayMy exam is tomorrow. From this book, give me the ten things I most need to be able to say, ranked. → a ranked cram list
/scoremeI'll write a paragraph answer. Score it out of ten and tell me exactly what would make it a ten. → scored feedback
/missedHere's a quiz I took and what I got wrong. Find the pattern in my mistakes and drill me on just that. → a weak-spot drill
Most study codes are built for books like the four in the video. These are for the book with characters in it. Name the novel, or paste the chapter, then the code.
/plotSummarize the plot so far in order, no spoilers past where I am. I'm at chapter [NUMBER]. → a spoiler-free recap
/castList every character, who they are, how they're connected, and one line on what they want. → a cast list
/motivesFor each main character, explain what drives them and the moment in the book that shows it. → what drives each character
/symbolsList the symbols and recurring images in this book, and what each one stands for. → a symbol key
/turningpointsGive me the five moments where the story changes direction, and what each one changes. → the five turns
/povExplain who tells this story, what they can't see or won't say, and how that shapes what I'm reading. → the narrator, examined
/endingexplainedExplain the ending: what happened, what it means, and the clues earlier in the book that set it up. → the ending, explained
/bookclubGive me eight discussion questions for this book that lead to a real conversation, not yes-or-no answers. → discussion questions
/themesindepthTake one theme from this book and trace it chapter by chapter, with the scene that carries it each time. → one theme, traced
/adaptationCompare this book to its film or TV adaptation: what was cut, what was changed, and what the changes lose. → book versus screen
These ask for a picture. The four codes from the video aren’t special commands, they’re ordinary instructions with the picture asked for, so any code in this guide can come back as an image. Type the code, then add this on the end:
Give me this as one clean image I can save to my phone: clear headings, icons, arrows, and short text, like a page of visual study notes.Now /glossary on The Psychology of Money comes back as a vocabulary wall, /turningpoints on Grit as a timeline, and /30days on The Power of Habit as a calendar. Use text when you need to copy and paste. Use the image when you need to remember.
/mapDraw the ideas in this chapter as a map: the main idea in the center, the others around it, lines between them labeled. → an idea map
/flowDraw this process as a flowchart: each step one box, arrows between them, decisions as diamonds. → a flowchart
/beforeafterShow the "before" and "after" this book argues for, side by side, in two columns. → a before-and-after
/ladderShow this chapter's ideas as a ladder from the most basic to the most advanced, one rung each. → a ladder of ideas
/gridPut the ideas in this chapter into a two-by-two grid and label both axes. → a two-by-two
/webShow how the characters or concepts in this book connect, as a web with labeled lines. → a relationship web
/sketchGive me one simple sketch that explains the main idea of this chapter, described so I could draw it myself. → a sketch to draw
/posterDesign a one-page poster of this book: the title, the big idea, the three things to remember, one image. → a one-page poster
/slideTurn this chapter into one presentation slide: a headline, three bullets, and what the picture should be. → one slide
/timelineLay out the events or ideas in this book in order along a timeline, each with a date or a chapter number. → a timeline
If you can explain it, you know it. Each of these picks a different listener.
/kidExplain this chapter's main idea to a ten-year-old, with one example from their life. → the ten-year-old version
/friendExplain this book to a friend over coffee, in the way I'd actually talk, under 150 words. → the coffee version
/bossExplain what's useful in this book to my manager in five sentences, with the one thing we should try. → the manager version
/postWrite a short social post about the one idea from this book worth sharing, in my own plain voice, no hashtags. → a social post
/minuteGive me a one-minute spoken explanation of this book I could say out loud without notes. → a one-minute talk
/threelevelsExplain this idea three times: to a beginner, to someone who's read a bit, and to an expert. → three levels of depth
/plainenglishRewrite this dense passage in plain English a tired person could follow. → a plain rewrite
/storyformExplain this chapter's idea as a short story with one character who learns it the hard way. → a short story
/analogiesGive me three everyday analogies for this idea, and tell me where each one breaks down. → three analogies
/faqWrite the eight questions a first-time reader would ask about this chapter, with a two-sentence answer each. → a beginner's FAQ
A book you never use is a book you’ll forget. These turn the reading into something you do. Run /monday on The Power of Habit and you’ll see the point.
/mondayGive me the three things from this book I can do this week, each small enough to finish in a day. → three things this week
/30daysTurn this book into a 30-day plan: one theme a week, two or three actions each week, and how I'll know it's working. → a 30-day plan
/habitsTurn the advice in this book into five habits, each with when I'd do it and what triggers it. → five habits
/meetingTurn this chapter into a five-minute talk I could give my team, with the one thing I want them to do after. → a five-minute talk
/checklistTurn this chapter's advice into a checklist I can print and tick off. → a checklist
/scriptGive me the exact words to use the next time I'm in the situation this chapter describes. → the words to say
/decisionI'll describe a decision I'm facing. Tell me what this book would say to do and why. → the book's advice for you
/pitfallsTell me the mistakes people make when they try to apply this book, and how to avoid each one. → the mistakes to avoid
/measureSuggest three ways I'd know, a month from now, whether this book changed anything. → a progress check
/teachteamPlan a 20-minute session to teach this book's main idea to a group, with one exercise. → a 20-minute session
The last ten minutes with a book are worth more than the first hour. Close it with one of these.
/reviewWrite a 200-word review of this book in my voice: what it does well, where it's weak, who should read it. → a 200-word review
/ratingRate this book out of ten on four things: how clear it is, how original it is, how useful it is, and how well it proves its case. One line each. → a scorecard
/lessonsList the ten lessons from this book I should actually keep, in order of how much they'd change my week. → ten lessons, ranked
/journalGive me five journal prompts to think through what this book means for me. → journal prompts
/nextbookBased on this book and what I liked about it, recommend three books to read next and say why each. → what to read next
/counterRecommend one book that argues the opposite of this one, so I don't only hear one side. → the other side
/whatchangedAsk me what I believed about this topic before I read the book. Then tell me what the book would say changed, and what it didn't. → a before-and-after of your thinking
/recommendWrite the two-sentence recommendation I'd give a friend, and tell me who I shouldn't recommend it to. → a two-sentence recommendation
/revisitTell me which chapter to re-read in six months, and the question to ask myself when I do. → a six-month reminder
/archiveGive me a one-page summary of this book I can file away: the idea, the five takeaways, the three best quotes, and what I did about it. → a one-page summary to file
If you only ever use five, use these, in this order, on the same book. Open one chat, name the book, and go.
/worthitbefore you buy or borrow it./chaptermapafter every chapter. Save each image./mentalmodelswhen you’re halfway through, to see the shape of the whole thing./recallwalkthe day after you finish, to find out what stuck./mondaythe same day, so the book turns into something you did.
If a code starts coming back vague, with generic advice that could be about any book, ChatGPT has lost the text. It happens in long chats. Paste the chapter again, or type "work only from the chapter I pasted," and the next answer snaps back to the book.
ChatGPT can misremember details of a book it's working from memory, it can invent page numbers, and it won't reproduce long passages of a book word for word from memory. For exact quotes, paste the real chapter. For anything you'll quote in an essay or a meeting, check the line against the page. And the codes make a book easier to learn. They don't replace reading the parts that matter. Use /skipto to find those parts, then read them.
The takeaway
The codes aren’t magic. They’re the questions a great teacher would ask you about a book, written short enough to type. Prime the chat once, name the book, ask the question, save the picture. Do that for every chapter and you finish the book knowing it, not just having read it.
Download the PDF so the full list is on your phone the next time you open something you want to remember.
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