AI Prompt Builder in RootsMagic 11: Smarter Research Prompts

RootsMagic 11 introduces a brand-new feature that makes working with artificial intelligence easier and more productive: the AI Prompt Builder.

At its heart, the Prompt Builder isn’t AI running inside RootsMagic or trying to tell you how to use the program. Instead, it’s a practical toolkit that helps you create better prompts—well-structured instructions that you can copy into any AI service. RootsMagic now gives you a way to create those instructions quickly and reuse them whenever you like.

Watch the Video

How It Works

When you open the AI Prompt Builder, you’ll see a library where your saved prompts are stored. At first it will be empty, but it won’t take long before you begin filling it with instructions tailored to your own needs. Each prompt can be as simple or as detailed as you want.

If you are comfortable writing your own AI prompts, there’s a free-form editor where you can give your prompt a name, type out the request you want to make, and then decide which details about the selected person in RootsMagic should be included—names, events, and even relatives like parents, siblings, spouses, and children.

For everyone else, the guided “Build a Prompt” option acts like a step-by-step wizard. You select the role you want AI to play, the task you want it to perform, and the audience you want it written for. You can even set a maximum length, ask for historical context, or check the box to keep the AI from making up details. At the end, RootsMagic assembles the entire prompt for you. All you have to do is give it a name and save it.

Examples in Action

The video shows how flexible this can be. In one demonstration, RootsMagic creates a prompt that asks the AI to build a word search puzzle for a family reunion. The program automatically includes the ancestor’s name, key events, and basic family relationships in the prompt. Once copied into ChatGPT, the AI produces not only the puzzle grid but also a word list drawn from the family data.

In another example, a different ancestor is selected, and the guided builder is used to generate a prompt for a narrative biography. The prompt includes the genealogical details from RootsMagic along with the request to add historical context, but without inventing any fictional stories. The result is a concise family history piece that can be shared at reunions or added to personal archives.

Managing Your Prompt Library

As you continue to experiment, you’ll likely build a growing collection of prompts. RootsMagic makes it simple to manage them. You can edit a prompt if you decide to change its wording or the data it includes, duplicate one to create a similar variation, or delete the ones you no longer need. And whenever you want to use a prompt, it’s just a matter of highlighting it and copying it to the clipboard. From there, you paste it into your favorite AI service and let the engine do the work.

Smarter Prompts, Better Results

Many genealogists worry about AI “making things up,” and rightly so. That’s why RootsMagic gives you the choice of including or excluding certain details, and provides a built-in option to tell AI not to invent information. Combined with the ability to reuse your best prompts again and again, the AI Prompt Builder helps ensure that your interactions with AI are focused, reliable, and truly useful.

By itself, RootsMagic doesn’t generate the narrative or puzzle—it equips you with the best possible prompt so that when you hand it off to an AI, you get results that are meaningful and accurate. It’s a smarter way to take advantage of these new tools without giving up control of your family history.

Learn more and try RootsMagic 11 today →