A prompt-structuring technique where you repeat a critical instruction as explicit checklist steps before and after (and sometimes during) the main task, so the agent executes it as part of the plan rather than treating it as optional framing.
Preflight is a session initiation checklist for AI-assisted / agentic work. It is the counterpart to Landing the Plane (session shutdown): where landing focuses on cleanup + handoff, preflight focuses on scoping + context selection + verification setup so the session doesn’t drift. When to run it Run preflight when: you start a new chat (especially after a reset) you resume after time away you’re about to start an autonomous “loop” (background run / repeated iterations) you notice context pollution and decide to restart cleanly The Problem Without a preflight: ...