Getting Y or N Answers Without Explanations in Your Prompt

Mark Cann · 2025-04-29 16:42:39.963939+00

How can I just get Y or N answers to this prompt, I've tried several changes but it still doesn't end up with a N it will have an explanation.

Getting Y or N Answers Without Explanations in Your Prompt | Clay

11 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Channeled
APP
·
·
To get only "Y" or "N" answers without explanations, you can use the "Use AI" enrichment and follow these steps: 1. Click on "Help me" in the AI prompt configuration. 2. In the "Task description" field, specify that you need only "Y" or "N" answers without explanations. 3. The tool will generate a tailored prompt for your needs. 4. Verify the prompt and adjust if necessary, emphasizing the need for single-letter responses. 5. In your prompt, explicitly instruct the AI to respond with only "Y" or "N" without any additional text. 6. Preview the results to ensure you're getting the desired output.
Sources: Writing AI prompts in Clay | Documentation | Clay University Prompt Engineering Crash Course [Limitless Research] - Clay University
Mark Cann
·
·
I tried that already and it didn't work.
kushagra tiwari
·
·
are you generating the json output schema for your prompt? that should solve for it
Mark Cann
·
·
kushagra tiwari guess not if i'm asking 🙂
Mark Cann
·
·
Error generating schema. Please manually create one using the GPT.
kushagra tiwari
·
·
works on re-try sometimes, other alternative is the generate using chat option
owen (Clay)
·
·
Hey Mark, thanks for reaching out! Great use case, in this prompt I would recommend a few things. You could try organizaing your examples like what's shown int he image below wrapping them in HTML tags while also clearing defining the input and output Another line I would recommend putting is "you will be penalized if you return anything other than "Y" OR "N"" Although it's comedic, this is a pretty effective method of getting the results you're looking for consistently. Would recommend trying both of these things and letting me know if this improves the outcomes!
(108 kB)
Mark Cann
·
·
Thanks Owen, I hit run on the prompt as it's getting late here in the UK and wanted to get it done before turning in.
Mark Cann
·
·
owen (Clay) As my plan goes to basic tomorrow, other than credits does anything else change e.g can i keep the same saved tables etc?
Mark Cann
·
·
owen (Clay) I ran the prompt and I got quite a lot of N's and did some spot checks and noticed they're actually match the criteria. https://app.clay.com/workspaces/236043/workbooks/wb_0svhmofdPgUDSyKkYNG/tables/t_0svhmofKwBumiXycBJ6/views/gv_0svhmogMfFDRqnE3ybn
LuisArturo (Clay)
·
·
Hey there Mark thanks for reaching out, sorry for the delay here, jumping in for Owen, to answer your questions when your plan returns to the Free plan you will lose access to Scheduling, using your own API keys and Signals. As for the second question can you give an example of which rows are incorrectly giving out a N so we can take a look again.

Channeled
APP
·
·
To get only "Y" or "N" answers without explanations, you can use the "Use AI" enrichment and follow these steps: 1. Click on "Help me" in the AI prompt configuration. 2. In the "Task description" field, specify that you need only "Y" or "N" answers without explanations. 3. The tool will generate a tailored prompt for your needs. 4. Verify the prompt and adjust if necessary, emphasizing the need for single-letter responses. 5. In your prompt, explicitly instruct the AI to respond with only "Y" or "N" without any additional text. 6. Preview the results to ensure you're getting the desired output.
Sources: Writing AI prompts in Clay | Documentation | Clay University Prompt Engineering Crash Course [Limitless Research] - Clay University
Mark Cann
·
·
I tried that already and it didn't work.
kushagra tiwari
·
·
are you generating the json output schema for your prompt? that should solve for it
Mark Cann
·
·
kushagra tiwari guess not if i'm asking 🙂
Mark Cann
·
·
Error generating schema. Please manually create one using the GPT.
kushagra tiwari
·
·
works on re-try sometimes, other alternative is the generate using chat option
owen (Clay)
·
·
Hey Mark, thanks for reaching out! Great use case, in this prompt I would recommend a few things. You could try organizaing your examples like what's shown int he image below wrapping them in HTML tags while also clearing defining the input and output Another line I would recommend putting is "you will be penalized if you return anything other than "Y" OR "N"" Although it's comedic, this is a pretty effective method of getting the results you're looking for consistently. Would recommend trying both of these things and letting me know if this improves the outcomes!
(108 kB)
Mark Cann
·
·
Thanks Owen, I hit run on the prompt as it's getting late here in the UK and wanted to get it done before turning in.
Mark Cann
·
·
owen (Clay) As my plan goes to basic tomorrow, other than credits does anything else change e.g can i keep the same saved tables etc?
Mark Cann
·
·
owen (Clay) I ran the prompt and I got quite a lot of N's and did some spot checks and noticed they're actually match the criteria. https://app.clay.com/workspaces/236043/workbooks/wb_0svhmofdPgUDSyKkYNG/tables/t_0svhmofKwBumiXycBJ6/views/gv_0svhmogMfFDRqnE3ybn
LuisArturo (Clay)
·
·
Hey there Mark thanks for reaching out, sorry for the delay here, jumping in for Owen, to answer your questions when your plan returns to the Free plan you will lose access to Scheduling, using your own API keys and Signals. As for the second question can you give an example of which rows are incorrectly giving out a N so we can take a look again.