Summary
Every prompt-editing surface in Alta (campaign messages, assistants, refinements) has a Refine button with a magic-wand icon. Tap it and Alta opens a small popover where you can describe what to improve, pick one or more pre-built refinement guides, or just let Alta fill in the structure gaps automatically.
Who this is for
Anyone iterating on AI prompts — SDRs polishing a campaign message, ops folks tuning an assistant, anyone who wants a faster path than rewriting a prompt by hand.
Before you start
You need an existing prompt or message to refine. The Refine button appears next to most prompt textareas in Alta — campaign touchpoints, message editors, and prompt-editor screens.
Step 1: Click the Refine button
Find the Refine button (magic-wand icon, labeled Refine) near the prompt you want to improve. Click it. A popover opens titled Refine prompt.
Step 2: Describe what you want changed (optional)
In the textarea at the top, type a free-text instruction. The placeholder reads "Describe how you'd like to improve the prompt". Examples:
"Make it more concise — 80 words max."
"Open with a question instead of a statement."
"Add a stronger CTA and remove the second paragraph."
You can leave this blank if you'd rather rely on the guide chips and structure guide alone.
Step 3: Pick one or more refinement guides
Below the textarea you'll see chip-style buttons — Alta's pre-built refinement guides for this surface. Each chip toggles on/off when clicked, and you can stack as many as you want.
The first 3 primary guides are shown by default.
If more are available, you'll see a See N more link — click it to reveal the rest.
Guides are context-aware: campaign message prompts get different chips than, say, an assistant's system prompt.
Step 4: Let Alta fill in the gaps (when available)
If this surface has a structure guide, you'll see a checkbox labeled Let Alta fill in the gaps. It's checked by default. When on, Alta uses its built-in structural template to fix common omissions (missing CTAs, weak openers, unclear value props) on top of whatever you've specified.
Step 5: Refine
Click the bottom-right Refine button (magic wand). Alta rewrites the prompt using your description + the selected guides + (optionally) the structure guide.
The button is disabled until you've given Alta something to work with — if it's grayed out, you'll see the tooltip "Provide instructions, select a guide, or let Alta fill in the gaps". Add any of the three and the button activates.
Step 6: Bail out if needed
Click Cancel (or click outside the popover) to discard. Closing also clears your typed description, deselects guides, and resets Let Alta fill in the gaps back to its default — so the next time you open Refine you start clean.
Tips and common pitfalls
Mix description + guides for best results. A short instruction like "shorter, more direct" plus the right guide chip is usually stronger than either alone.
The structure guide is your safety net. Leave Let Alta fill in the gaps on unless you have a specific reason to turn it off — it catches structural problems you might not have noticed.
Stacking guides multiplies effect, not always linearly. Toggling four guides at once can produce a rewrite that's noticeably different in tone — pick deliberately.
"See N more" hides advanced guides. If you don't see the chip you want, click See N more first.
Disabled Refine = no inputs. If the bottom button stays gray, you haven't given Alta anything actionable. The tooltip text tells you what's missing.
Refine doesn't replace iteration. Use it as a fast first pass, then read the output critically — refine again or hand-edit if you don't love it.
Related
How to Create a Personalized Message in Alta (Katie)
How to Use Message Scoring in Alta
Prompt Best Practices Playbook