PROMPTS
Build Your Entire Family Tree With Claude ⚡
Claude interviews you, traces the history behind your family name, uses your browser to dig through public records for relatives you never knew existed, and.
You are going to build a real family tree with Claude, in one chat, in about 30 minutes. Four prompts, in order. The first two work from what you already know. The third connects Claude to your browser so it can go search real records. The fourth turns it all into a visual tree.
The honest version, because it matters: Claude does not have a secret file on your family. What it is great at is interviewing you into a clean structure, explaining the history behind your name, and using your browser to surface leads from public records you would never dig through yourself. The magic isn't that it knows your family, it's that it turns scattered memories into a real starting point in minutes.
What You'll Do
- 1. The interview. Claude maps everything you already remember.
- 2. Trace your name. The origin and history behind your surname.
- 3. Connect Chrome. So Claude can search real records for you.
- 4. Build the tree. A visual artifact plus a GEDCOM file you can keep.
Prompt 1: The Interview
Don't try to organize your family yourself. Let Claude interview you, it's far better at asking the right questions than you are at volunteering the right answers.
I want to build my full family tree. Interview me one question at a time about my full name, where my family is from, and every relative I can actually remember on both sides, with names, approximate years, and birthplaces. Go one branch at a time so I don't get overwhelmed, keep track of what I've told you, and when we're done, lay it all out as a clean starting tree.
What happens next: Claude asks you one thing at a time and quietly assembles the structure. Answer whatever you can, "around 1950" or "before the war" is fine. When you're done, it hands you a clean tree of everything you know.
Tip: Do this with a parent or grandparent nearby if you can. The one-question-at-a-time format is perfect for jogging their memory, and they'll remember names and stories you never knew. This step alone is worth it just for that conversation.
What to give it, even if it doesn't ask
- Full names, including maiden names. Maiden names are the key to the mother's side.
- Towns, not just countries. "Naples" traces further than "Italy."
- Approximate birth and death years. Records are searchable by date range.
- Immigration years. Ship manifests and naturalization records exist for these.
- Every spelling variation you know. Names change across generations, and Claude will need them in the search step.
Prompt 2: Trace Your Name
Now that Claude has your surname and where your people came from, have it trace the line itself. This is the part that makes people lean in, most have never heard the story behind their own name.
Based on my last name and where my family came from, trace the origin of my family line and tell me how far back you can actually go. Cover the meaning and roots of the surname, the regions it's most common in, any migrations or historical events that moved families with this name, and whether it was likely changed or shortened when my family immigrated. Be clear about what's documented history versus a general pattern for names like mine.
What happens next: Claude walks you through the history of your surname and how far it typically traces. Some of it is genuinely wild. That last line matters, it tells Claude to separate real history from educated guessing, so you know what to trust.
Step 3: Connect Chrome
To go find real relatives, Claude needs to use your browser. This is the step people get stuck on, so go slow.
If Chrome isn't working
Claude didn't open a browser. The extension probably isn't connected. Reopen Chrome, click the Claude extension icon, and connect it, then try the next prompt again.
You can just ask. Say "walk me through connecting Chrome so you can search for me," and Claude will guide you through it right in the chat.
Prompt 3: Find New Relatives
This is the step everyone wants. Claude uses Chrome to comb public records and come back with people and documents you didn't have.
Use Chrome to search public records, free genealogy sites, and obituaries for relatives connected to my family that I don't already have. Check FamilySearch, obituaries, cemetery and grave records, and old newspaper archives. For each lead, give me the name, how they might connect to my tree, a link to the source, and how confident you are. Don't invent anyone, if you can't confirm it, mark it as a lead to check, not a fact.
What happens next: Claude opens your browser, digs through the records it can reach, and comes back with names, links, and how they might connect to you. This is where people find relatives they never knew existed.
If the search comes up short
It hit a paywall. Claude searches the free, open web and any sites you're logged into. If it lands on a paid ancestry service, log in yourself in Chrome first, then tell it to keep going, it can't unlock paid data on its own.
It found little. Give it more to work with: a maiden name, a town instead of a country, an approximate year, or an immigration date. Vague inputs get vague results.
Tip: Point it at obituaries specifically. They almost always list the person's relatives by name, spouse, children, siblings, so one obituary can fill in a whole branch.
Prompt 4: Build The Visual Tree
Pull it all together into something you can actually look at, screenshot, and share with family.
Now build me a full visual family tree with everyone we have and how we're all connected. Show my confirmed relatives, plus a separate section for the unconfirmed leads. Make it a visual artifact I can view and screenshot. Also give me a GEDCOM file so I can import it into a genealogy app later.
What happens next: Claude generates an interactive artifact, a real visual tree laid out by generation. Ask for the GEDCOM file too, that's the universal family-tree format, so you can import your work into FamilySearch or any genealogy app and never lose it.
Tip: Ask for a clean, printable version as well. It's perfect for framing, for a family reunion, or for a grandparent who wants it on paper.
Bonus Prompts
Pull these out any time, same chat.
Break through a brick wall
I'm stuck on [name], born around [year] in [place]. Walk me through exactly what records might exist for this person, which archive or site holds each, and the exact search terms and spelling variations to try.
Crack a name in another language
What would this surname look like in the original language or alphabet, and what are the common English spellings it became after immigration?
Reach out to a relative you found
Draft a short, warm message to a possible relative I found. I'm [name], I think we connect through [shared ancestor / surname]. Keep it friendly and low-pressure, and ask one simple question to see if we match.
Your Action Plan
- Let Claude interview you (do it with a parent if you can).
- Trace your name.
- Connect Chrome and the extension, and log into FamilySearch.
- Run the record search, treat finds as leads.
- Build the visual tree and verify the exciting ones before you tell everyone.
AI finds the threads. You pull them. That's how you find your people.
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