# PROMPT CHANGELOG: Active Discount Code Finder

Wrap variant: fullrefit.io/dne-wrap (improve, do not execute). Date: 2026-10-21.

## Revised prompt (ready to paste)

```
# Active Discount Finder

## Inputs (fill per use)
- Product, service, or membership: [PRODUCT]
- Plan, tier, or quantity (optional): [PLAN, or leave blank to use the most popular paid plan; state which plan you used]
- Type (SaaS, retail, subscription, course, membership, etc.): [TYPE]
- Country and currency (optional): [COUNTRY, default US / USD]
- Eligibility I have (optional): [e.g. student with .edu email, nonprofit, military, existing customer, none]

## Objective
Find the lowest price I can actually pay for this product today, using only discounts that are currently active and backed by evidence you can link. "Lowest price" means the out-of-pocket cost for the first purchase, or the first 12 months for anything recurring (state which), before tax, compared with the list price on the same plan and term. Three verified offers beat twenty plausible ones. When in doubt, leave it out.

## What a wrong answer looks like
Any of these fails the task, even if the format is perfect:
- Generic strings (SAVE20, OFFER50, PROMO10) or aggregator listings presented as working. Aggregator "verified" badges, success percentages, and "used X times today" counters are not evidence.
- An expired code, or a creator code from an old video, presented as active.
- A Bottom line price that stacks discounts the merchant does not allow together, or that depends on eligibility I did not say I have.
- A saving that compares unlike things: an annual price against the monthly list price, or a first-period intro price presented as the ongoing price.
- A competitor price in the negotiation script that you did not source in this run.
- Preamble, or narration of the searches you ran.

## Verification gate
An offer goes in the Verified table only if at least one of these holds and you can link to it:
1. Official: it appears on the merchant's own site, signup page, or official social account, on a page that is live now or in a post from the last 60 days.
2. Creator: a named creator is promoting it in content published in the last 60 days, or in a link-in-bio or pinned comment that is live now. Name the creator and link the post.
3. Community: a dated post or comment from the last 60 days (counting back from today) in which a real user says the code worked. Reddit, X, forums, and Slickdeals threads count when the confirming comment is dated. Give the absolute date.
Everything else goes under "Unconfirmed: do not rely on" with the reason, or is discarded. Never promote unconfirmed to verified. "Verified" here means evidence-backed, not checkout-tested. Say so once under the table.

## Where to look
Community and creator signal first, then official.
- Community: search Reddit, X, YouTube, TikTok, and forums for the product name plus "promo code", "discount", "coupon", and "referral". If a /last30days skill is available, use it for this sweep. It covers only 30 days, so search directly for confirmations 31 to 60 days old.
- Creators: find creators in this product's niche with active codes in video descriptions, pinned comments, sponsor reads, or link-in-bio. If a channel or sponsor scanning tool (such as /youtube-researcher) is available, use it. Otherwise search directly.
- Official: the pricing page (record the list price, plan, and date checked), plus any deals, student, education, nonprofit, startup, military, or partner pages, and the merchant's X and Instagram for flash promos.

## Stacking and non-code savings
Check each. For every combination with a code, mark it "confirmed" (merchant terms or a dated user report) or "unknown".
- Segment discount (student, nonprofit, startup, senior, military). Count it in the Bottom line only if it matches my stated eligibility. Otherwise list it as conditional.
- Billing term: annual versus monthly. Show the effective monthly cost and the commitment.
- Referral or refer-a-friend credit. Note that the referrer also benefits.
- Payment or cashback offer (card promo, PayPal, cashback portal), only if live now.
- Intro pricing that expires: give the renewal price.

## Output
Start with the Bottom line. No preamble.

### Bottom line
- List price checked: [price, plan, term, date checked, link]
- Best price anyone can get: [price] (saving: [amount] / [%])
- Path: [one sentence, e.g. Annual plan + code XYZ]
- Best price with my eligibility: [price and path] (omit if I gave no eligibility or none applies)
- Stacking: [confirmed or unknown, for each combination used above]
- Renewal: [price after any intro period, or "no change"]

### Verified offers
| Offer | Code or link | Evidence (source, absolute date, link) | Requirement | Expires / limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|

### Stacking and non-code savings
[Omit if none.]

### Unconfirmed: do not rely on
[Each with its reason. Omit if empty.]

### Negotiation script
Include only if no verified offer beats the list price and the merchant has a sales, support, or retention channel. Keep the competitor sentence only if you sourced that price in this run and link it.
> "Hi, I'm about to sign up for [Plan]. I found [competitor] at [price]. Do you have a first-time or current promo I can use to go with you today?"

## Rules
- No invented codes, prices, dates, or creators.
- No coupon-farm or spam links.
- Research only: do not create accounts, start trials, or enter codes at checkout.
- If nothing verifiable exists, put the list price in the Bottom line, say plainly that no verified discount was found, and go to the negotiation script.
```

## What was wrong and what each change fixes

The original is a solid reusable template. Its slots are meant to be filled per use and are not defects. The real gaps were in how "verified" and "saving" were defined, which is where a fluent wrong answer would hide.

1. **Creator codes had no recency test.** Gate 1 accepted any code a named influencer pushed, so a code from a two-year-old video description qualified as "active." Fix: creator content must be from the last 60 days or live now, with the post linked.
2. **The Bottom line could stack discounts that do not combine.** Most merchants bar a promo code on top of a student or annual discount, and the original multiplied them without asking. Fix: every combination is marked confirmed or unknown, and the Bottom line states which.
3. **"Saving" had no fixed basis.** Annual against monthly, or an intro price against list, produces large fake savings. Fix: the objective defines the comparison (same plan and term, first purchase or first 12 months, pre-tax) and the output requires the renewal price.
4. **The headline price could depend on eligibility the user lacks.** A .edu path presented as "best realistic price" misleads a non-student. Fix: new optional Eligibility input, and the Bottom line splits "anyone can get" from "with my eligibility."
5. **Plan was missing as an input.** Price depends on tier, so two runs on the same product could compare different plans. Fix: optional Plan slot, with a stated default.
6. **Aggregator rule left a loophole and caught a real source.** "Verified today" badges and success counters could pass as confirmation, while Slickdeals, which has dated user comments, was lumped in with Honey. Fix: counters are named as non-evidence, and dated Slickdeals comments count as community confirmation.
7. **Tool windows conflicted.** /last30days covers 30 days, the gate allowed 60, so confirmations 31 to 60 days old would never surface. Fix: a direct search for that window. Both skills are now conditional on being available, so the template runs in any environment.
8. **Relative dates and missing links.** "Confirmed 6 days ago" cannot be checked later. Fix: absolute dates and a link for every verified row, plus an Expires column.
9. **The negotiation script invited an invented competitor price.** Fix: the competitor sentence stays only if the price was sourced in the run, and the script only appears when the merchant has a channel to negotiate with.
10. **Referral credits were missing.** For many SaaS products with no public codes, a referral credit is the actual best discount. Fix: added to stacking, with a note that the referrer benefits.
11. **No action boundary.** An agent trying to "verify" could create accounts or enter codes at checkout. Fix: research only.
12. **Em dashes removed** throughout, including the output headings and script.

Objective unchanged: lowest real price from active, evidenced discounts. No motive was added.

## Flags (a rewrite alone cannot solve these)

- **Evidence is not a checkout test.** The only true verification is applying the code at checkout, which the agent should not do. The template now labels "verified" as evidence-backed, and the final check is yours: paste the top code at checkout before paying.
- **Stacking rules are often undocumented.** Many results will show "unknown." That is honest output, not a failure.
- **Thin-signal products.** Niche or B2B products may have no community chatter at all. The template handles this by falling back to list price plus the negotiation script, so expect that path often for enterprise tools.

## Verdict

Ready to run as-is: fill the inputs for each product and paste.