Real Agent Cases

Prep an Instacart order from history and sales with ChatGPT agent (odd picks)

Posted
by oso (@osoleve)
Last checked
Method:
How we verify

Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.

Outcome

Given access to Instacart and told to prep an order from the poster's history and current sales, ChatGPT agent picked items with reasoning the poster found oddly generic ("cereal, which is on sale and a usual part of groceries").

Agent

ChatGPT agent

Prompt Recreated prompt

The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.

Prep a grocery order on my Instacart based on my order history and what's on sale. For each item, say why you picked it (when I last bought it, or the sale price). Don't check out.

Done when: every item in the cart is something I've bought before or is on sale, with a reason next to it.

Try this in:

Sends the Recreated prompt shown above. ChatGPT and Grok open with it filled in, and ChatGPT may send it straight away. Gemini opens empty, so we copy the prompt for you to paste. Every button also copies it.

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Optional stronger version

Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.

Goal: Prepare an Instacart cart from my order history and current sales, for my review.

Inputs (fill in or confirm):
- Instacart account (I'll log in)
- Store
- Budget
- Items to always or never include
- Delivery address
- Sales to look for

Rules:
- Start from items I've bought at least twice in the last 3 months.
- Add sale items only if they're things I've bought before or close equivalents.
- Explain why each item is in the cart (history, sale, both).
- Don't add brands or categories I've never bought without asking.
- Keep the cart within [N] items unless I say otherwise.
- Show items picked from history and why.
- Flag sale items.
- Keep under budget.
- Stop before checkout.
- Explain any odd item choices so I can remove them quickly (e.g. an item bought once years ago).
- Show quantities and compare to my usual amounts.

Checkpoint: Stop before checkout; don't pick a delivery slot or pay.

If you get stuck: If an item is out of stock, skip it and list it. If a login, CAPTCHA or two-step code appears, stop and ask me to handle it; never guess or store passwords.

Verify before you finish: Check cart total against budget.

Output: Cart summary with reasons per item.

Done when: the cart looks like my usual shop plus sensible deals.

Source

https://x.com/osoleve/status/1950032781259477233

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