Prompt Elements

Element	Description	Impact	General Examples	Tech/IT Examples
Clear & Specific Task/Instruction	The core action you want the AI to perform. This should be an unambiguous and direct command or question. Use action verbs and avoid vagueness	This is the fundamental directive for the AI. Without a clear task, the model has no direction and is likely to produce irrelevant or generic output	Summarize this article Generate five headlines for a blog post about sustainable living Translate the following paragraph into French	Write a Python function to sort a list of dictionaries by a specific key Explain how blockchain technology works to a non-technical audience Debug the following Python code snippet
Context	The background information, setting, or circumstances relevant to the task. This helps the AI understand the "why" behind your request	Context narrows the AI's focus, allowing it to generate a more relevant and tailored response that aligns with your specific situation or need	I am writing a follow-up email to a client I met at a conference. They expressed interest in our new software I need help planning a road trip through national parks in the Southwest United States for next summer	I'm developing a new microservice using FastAPI and I need to implement secure API authentication We are experiencing slow database query performance in our PostgreSQL cluster during peak hours
Expectations	Clearly defining what a "good" response looks like including completeness, level of detail, or aspects to emphasize or avoid	Helps the AI align more closely with success criteria, reducing trial-and-error by anticipating how the output will be evaluated or used	Make sure the summary covers the main arguments and key takeaways Provide at least 3 different approaches Do not include any personal opinions	Ensure the code is well-commented and follows best practices for readability and maintainability Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each encryption method The solution should not introduce any new security vulnerabilities
Role/Persona	Assigning a specific role or persona for the AI to adopt (e.g., "Act as a seasoned financial analyst," "You are a creative copywriter")	This significantly influences the tone, style, vocabulary, and even the reasoning process of the AI, leading to more authentic and useful outputs	Act as a seasoned financial analyst and evaluate the potential ROI of investing in renewable energy stocks You are a motivational coach; write a short pep talk for someone starting a new fitness journey	Act as a senior DevOps engineer advising on cloud infrastructure migration strategies You are a cybersecurity expert; outline the potential attack vectors for a new mobile application
Audience	Specifying the intended audience for the AI's response (e.g., "Explain this to a 5-year-old," "Write for a technical audience")	This dictates the level of complexity, language, and detail in the response, ensuring it is understandable and impactful for the target reader	Explain quantum physics to a 5-year-old Write a technical report on the latest advancements in AI for an audience of machine learning engineers	Explain the concept of containerization to a project manager with no technical background Write documentation for API endpoints for an audience of third-party developers
Format	Defining the desired structure of the output (e.g., "in a bulleted list," "as a JSON object," "in a table with columns for...")	A specified format ensures the information is organized in a usable and easily digestible manner, saving time on post-processing	Provide the information in a bulleted list Output the data as a JSON object with keys for 'name' and 'age' Create a table with columns for 'Product Name', 'Price', and 'Availability'	Generate the YAML configuration for a Kubernetes deployment Provide the error logs in a structured JSON format Present a comparison of SQL and NoSQL databases in a table with columns for 'Feature', 'SQL', and 'NoSQL'
Source	Providing authoritative references or datasets the AI should base its response on, or citing where information should come from.	Anchors the AI's response in credibility or required material, especially critical for factual accuracy, traceability, or domain compliance	Using the provided research paper, summarize the methodology section Referencing the attached sales data, identify the top 3 performing regions	Based on the OpenAPI specification provided, generate client-side code in Java Analyze the attached network traffic logs and identify any anomalous activity
Examples (Few-Shot Prompting)	Providing one or more examples of the desired input-output pattern	This is a powerful way to guide the AI's response, especially for complex or novel tasks, by demonstrating the expected style and structure	Input: 'Happy' -> Output: 'Joyful, Elated' Input: 'Sad' -> Output: 'Mournful, Downcast' Now, Input: 'Angry' -> Output:...	Example Input: def add(a, b): return a + b -> Example Output: Function: add, Parameters: a, b, Description: Adds two numbers. Example Input: class User: -> Example Output: Class: User, Description: Represents a user. Now, Input: import os -> Output:...
Constraints & Negative Constraints	Setting boundaries or limitations on the response (e.g., "in under 200 words," "do not include technical jargon," "avoid using passive voice")	Constraints help to refine the output, making it more focused and aligned with specific requirements. Negative constraints are particularly useful for avoiding undesirable content	Summarize the article in under 200 words Do not include any technical jargon in your explanation Ensure the response avoids using passive voice	Generate a SQL query that runs in under 100ms on a database with 1 million records Do not use any deprecated libraries in the code example Avoid suggesting solutions that require significant infrastructure changes
Tone & Style	Describing the desired emotional or stylistic quality of the response (e.g., "formal," "humorous," "empathetic," "optimistic")	Tone and style add a layer of personality and nuance to the output, making it more engaging and appropriate for the context	Write a formal business email Craft a humorous short story about a talking cat Provide an empathetic response to a customer complaint	Write a concise and professional bug report Craft an engaging blog post about the future of AI Explain a complex technical concept in a casual and approachable manner
Chain of Thought/Step-by-Step Reasoning	Instructing the AI to "think step-by-step" or outline its reasoning process before providing the final answer	This technique can improve the accuracy of the final output, especially for complex reasoning tasks, and provides transparency into the AI's process	Think step-by-step to solve this math problem and show your work Before providing the final answer, explain your reasoning process for choosing the best solution	Walk me through the steps of deploying a Docker container to AWS ECS Before suggesting a solution, analyze the provided code for potential performance bottlenecks and explain your findings
Questioning & Iteration	Asking clarifying questions within the prompt or planning for iterative refinement of the AI's responses	This fosters a more collaborative interaction, allowing you to guide the AI towards a better answer through a series of prompts	If you need more information about the target audience, what specific details would be most helpful? Based on this initial draft, what areas do you think need further refinement?	What specific operating system or cloud provider are you targeting for this deployment? Could you provide the exact error message you're receiving, or any relevant stack traces?
Request for Multiple Versions	Asking for several different versions or perspectives on the same topic	This can be useful for brainstorming, exploring different creative angles, or A/B testing different approaches	Provide 3 different taglines for a new coffee shop, each with a different tone Generate two distinct summaries of the article: one concise and one detailed	Generate 3 different architectural diagrams for a scalable web application, highlighting different technology stacks Provide two alternative approaches to implementing user authentication, one using OAuth and another using JWT
Inclusion of Keywords	Strategically placing important keywords within the prompt that you want to see in the output	This can help to ensure that the AI's response focuses on the most critical aspects of your request	Write a press release about our new product launch, ensuring to include 'innovation', 'sustainability', and 'customer-centric' in the text	When describing the microservices architecture, ensure to use terms like 'loose coupling', 'API gateway', and 'container orchestration' The security audit report should emphasize 'vulnerability assessment', 'penetration testing', and 'compliance standards'

Improve Prompting

Direct Prompt Review

Act as a prompt engineer review the following prompt for me optimize it to make it better and ask me any questions you have before proceeding

Iterative Prompt Creator with Critique

I want you to become my Expert Prompt Creator. Your goal is to help me craft the best possible prompt for my needs. The prompt you provide should be written from the perspective of me making the request to AI Assistant. Consider in your prompt creation that this prompt will be entered into an interface for LLMs. The prompt will include instructions to write the output using my communication style. 
The process is as follows:
1. You will generate the following sections:
**Prompt:**
> {provide the best possible prompt according to my request}
> {summarize my prior messages to you and provide them as examples of my communication style}
**Critique:**
{provide a concise paragraph on how to improve the prompt. Be very critical in your response. This section is intended to force constructive criticism even when the prompt is acceptable. Any assumptions and or issues should be included}
**Questions:**
{ask any questions pertaining to what additional information is needed from me to improve the prompt (max of 3). If the prompt needs more clarification or details in certain areas, ask questions to get more information to include in the prompt}
2. I will provide my answers to your response which you will then incorporate into your next response using the same format. We will continue this iterative process with me providing additional information to you and you updating the prompt until the prompt is perfected.
Remember, the prompt we are creating should be written from the perspective of Me (the user) making a request to you, AI Assistant. An example prompt you could create would start with "You will act as an expert physicist to help me understand the nature of the universe".
Think carefully and use your imagination to create an amazing prompt for me.
Your first response should only be a greeting and to ask what the prompt should be about.

Iterative Prompt Creator with Additions

I want you to become my Expert Prompt Creator. The objective is to assist me in creating the most effective prompts to be used with AI Assistant. The generated prompt should be in the first person (me), as if I were directly requesting a response from AI Assistant.
Your response will be in the following format:
**Prompt:**

> {Provide the best possible prompt according to my request. There are no restrictions to the length of the prompt. Utilize your knowledge of prompt creation techniques to craft an expert prompt. Don't assume any details, we'll add to the prompt as we go along. Frame the prompt as a request for a response from AI Assistant. An example would be "You will act as an expert physicist to help me understand the nature of the universe...". Make this section stand out using '>' Markdown formatting. Don't add additional quotation marks.}
> **Possible Additions:**
> {Create 3 possible additions to incorporate directly in the prompt. These should be additions to expand the details of the prompt. Options will be very concise and listed using uppercase-alpha. Always update with new Additions after every response.}
> **Questions:**
> {Frame 3 questions that seek additional information from me to further refine the prompt. If certain areas of the prompt require further detail or clarity, use these questions to gain the necessary information. I am not required to answer all questions.}
> Instructions: After sections Prompt, Possible Additions, and Questions are generated, I will respond with my chosen additions and answers to the questions. Incorporate my responses directly into the prompt wording in the next iteration. We will continue this iterative process with me providing additional information to you and you updating the prompt until the prompt is perfected. Be thoughtful and imaginative while crafting the prompt. At the end of each response, provide concise instructions on the next steps.
> Before we start the process, first provide a greeting and ask me what the prompt should be about. Don't display the sections on this first response.