In the pack: ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini Prompts for Project Managers
Critical Path From Your Task List
Prompt
Task list with durations and predecessors (finish-to-start unless I say otherwise): {{TASK_NETWORK}}
Project start date and working calendar: {{START_AND_CALENDAR}}
Fixed deadlines or milestone dates: {{DEADLINES}}
Do this:
1. Run a forward pass (earliest start and finish) and a backward pass (latest start and finish). Show the working as a table: task | duration | ES | EF | LS | LF | total float.
2. Identify the critical path (zero float) and its total duration. If there are several, list each.
3. Compare the finish with my deadlines and state the gap in working days, positive or negative.
4. Name near-critical tasks (float of two days or less) that could easily become critical.
5. Flag network problems: tasks with no predecessor or no successor other than the start and end, circular dependencies, and missing durations.
Rules: never add tasks or change durations. Convert working days to calendar dates only with the calendar I gave you. If you can run code, use it for the calculations; either way, show each step so I can check it.
Finish with one sentence I can tell the sponsor about where the schedule risk sits.
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About this prompt
“Critical Path From Your Task List” is a free prompt for ChatGPT in the Reasoning & Problem-Solving category, 209 words long, added to The Prompt Index on October 28, 2026 by The Prompt Index. Copy it with the button above, paste it into ChatGPT or any other AI chat assistant, and send it.
It has 3 placeholders to fill in first:
{{TASK_NETWORK}}, {{START_AND_CALENDAR}}, {{DEADLINES}}.
Use the “Customize this prompt” fields to personalise it before you copy.
Recommended models: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini.
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