DEV Community: Việt Anh Phạm

💡 One Tiny Prompting Trick That Changes Everything

Việt Anh Phạm — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 16:16:14 +0000

Growing up, I was obsessed with those old Hong Kong mafia flicks.
The boss never needed to shout.
Just a tilt of the head. A silent stare. Maybe a small gesture… and his team was already moving.

No noise. No fuss. Just instant action.

🤔 What Does That Have to Do With AI?
Turns out, getting an AI model to follow your intention smoothly… kind of works the same way.

Not with shouting (long-winded prompts),
But with quiet precision.

The key?
👉 Design your own shorthand.
Make your prompts work like code.

🔧 Here's How I Do It
Instead of writing full instructions like:

"Please translate this sentence into Arabic, using a polite and simple tone."

I define internal syntax that only I need to understand:

"> means: translate into the last-used language, keep it gentle"
"< means: translate back to English"

Now I type:

"> Oh I see"
That’s it. Fast, readable, and it just works.

🎯 Why It Works
✅ Saves time

✅ Reduces friction

✅ Keeps your mind focused on what you want, not how to say it

Think of it like building muscle memory for your prompts.
Instead of copy-pasting or repeating yourself… your custom syntax does the heavy lifting.

🚀 Bonus: QuickAsk AI Makes It Even Easier
QuickAsk AI now supports:

Prompt aliases built into the UI
Sticky translations and note-based memory
And no switching tabs — just highlight and go

⚡ Try it here → https://quickask.me
🧩 Install from the Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/quickask-ai-d%E1%BB%8Bch-ho%E1%BA%B7c-h%E1%BB%8Fi/jnejgogaflifpdgecjfhpgdiabbeipag)

Prompts don’t have to be long.
They just have to be yours.

Cut Your Tab Count in Half: How I Embedded AI Into My Workflow

Việt Anh Phạm — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 16:02:24 +0000

I used to juggle 20+ browser tabs daily.

Slack, Gmail, Google Docs, ChatGPT, dashboards — all open, all fighting for my attention.

I thought I was multitasking like a pro.

Turns out, I was just switching contexts way too much.

The Real Bottleneck? Not Time — Context.

Every small task involved:

Searching for info in Tab A
Copying it to ChatGPT in Tab B
Reading the output
Going back to act on it

This flow repeated dozens of times, killing both focus and energy.

Then I Installed QuickAsk AI

QuickAsk AI is a lightweight browser extension that connects directly with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude without switching tabs.

Features I use daily:

🔍 Highlight + right-click to translate, rephrase, or summarize
📄 Summarize an entire page instantly
💬 Inline follow-ups with AI responses

The Results

⏱ Tasks complete ~30% faster
🧠 Mental fatigue = down
📌 I stay on one page longer and finish what I start

Bonus Use Cases

Customer emails: rewrite tone
Legal docs: ask for simpler explanations
Strategy planning: highlight reports, get key points fast

Try It Yourself

🔗 Learn more about QuickAsk AI

🧩 Install from the Chrome Web Store

Let your browser think with you, not against you.

🚀 Boost Your Productivity with QuickAsk GPT – A Chrome Extension for Instant AI Replies

Việt Anh Phạm — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:05:41 +0000

Working with ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude while browsing the web? If your workflow involves copying text, switching tabs, and pasting prompts into AI tools — you know how repetitive and distracting it can get.

That’s exactly the pain point I ran into. So I built QuickAsk GPT — a lightweight Chrome extension designed to cut down the friction between reading and asking AI.

🔍 The Problem

Let’s be real — here’s the usual routine:
Highlight text on a page
Copy it
Search through open tabs to find your AI tool
Paste the text
Re-type the same prompt again (especially for translations or summaries)

Doing this 10–20 times a day adds up quickly. It breaks your focus and slows down your research or development flow.

⚙️ The Solution: How QuickAsk GPT Works
Highlight any text on any webpage

A smart floating button appears: "Ask AI" or "Trans"
On click, the extension auto-copies the content, masks sensitive info (like tokens, emails, etc.), and sends it directly to your preferred AI tool
You get the response in a clean popup window, right on the page — no tab switching, no repetitive copy-paste
It supports ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and even custom GPT APIs.

🔧 Dev-Friendly Features

Built with modular JS + clean CSS, responsive across screen sizes
Open AI interaction is configurable (API vs UI-based)
Supports multi-language prompts and in-place translations
Doesn’t collect user data; processing stays on client-side

🌐 Try It Out
You can install it from the Chrome Web Store here:
👉 quickask.me

No setup required. Just highlight, click, and chat.

💬 Your Feedback Matters
This started as a weekend project to scratch my own itch, but I realized many devs and researchers need something like this. If you have ideas or want to contribute — I’d love to hear from you.

Let me know what you'd add to improve this workflow. PRs and feature requests welcome.

Built for people who like to keep their hands on the keyboard, not switching tabs.