Your prompt engineering toolkit.
Structured prompt templates, chaining builders, and examples - organized by use case and technique. Copy, paste, adapt.
Prompt Templates
The 5-Part Prompt
The most reliable starting point for any AI task. Covers task, context, audience, tone, and constraints.
Task: [What specifically do you want? Be a verb - write, analyze, compare, summarize, explain] Context: [What is the situation? What background does the AI need?] Audience: [Who will read or use this? What do they already know?] Tone: [How should it sound? Give 2-3 adjectives or an example of the voice you want.] Constraints: [Format, length, must-includes, must-not-includes. If conflicting, say which wins.]
Chain-of-Thought
Ask the AI to reason step by step before answering. Produces significantly better results on analytical problems.
Task: [Your question or problem] Before answering: Identify the key factors, walk through your reasoning step by step, flag what you are uncertain about, then give your answer with your reasoning visible.
Few-Shot Examples
Show the AI 2-3 examples of what you want. Works well for specialized tasks where you need specific format or reasoning.
Here are 3 examples of the output I want: Example 1: [Input] → [Ideal Output] Example 2: [Input] → [Ideal Output] Example 3: [Input] → [Ideal Output] Now produce output for: [Your Input] Match the format and reasoning style shown above.
Role Prompting
Assign the AI a specific expertise and perspective. Shapes depth, tone, and the type of advice given.
You are a [specific professional role, e.g., a senior product manager who specializes in B2B SaaS]. My situation: [describe your context, constraints, and what you are trying to decide or accomplish] Give me advice as this role would give it. Be specific, not generic. Question anything that seems like the wrong approach.
Iterate Until Excellent
The core workflow: write a prompt, evaluate, refine. Repeat until the output is actually good.
Step 1 - Write: [Your first prompt using the 5-part structure] Step 2 - Evaluate: What is good? What is wrong? What is missing? Step 3 - Refine: [Write a second prompt addressing what was wrong. Be specific: "This part was too generic - make it specifically about X."] Step 4 - Repeat: Keep refining until the output meets your standard. Save the final prompt - you will use it again.
Structured Output
Get AI output in exactly the format you need - table, JSON, bullet list, markdown.
[Your main request] Format requirements: [Be specific about the structure you need] If the format cannot be met, explain why and provide the closest alternative. Do not include any preamble or explanation - just the output in the requested format.
Debug a Bad Output
When AI output is wrong or off-target, diagnose before fixing. Most people rewrite from scratch - this is faster.
My AI prompt produced this output: [paste output] What I wanted instead: [describe the gap] What went wrong: [Is it off-topic? Too vague? Wrong format? Missing context?] Rewrite the prompt to fix specifically: [one targeted instruction based on your diagnosis above]
Compare Options
Structured comparison of two or more options with pros, cons, and a recommendation framework.
Compare [Option A] and [Option B] for [my specific situation/context]. For each option: - Key strengths (be specific, not generic) - Key weaknesses or risks - Under what conditions this would be the right choice Then: Given my constraints of [list constraints], which would you recommend and why? What information would change your recommendation?
Prompt Chains
Multi-step workflows where each prompt builds on the last. Run these in sequence for better results than a single-shot prompt.
Research to Draft
What are the 5 most important things to know about [topic] if you are getting started? Be specific and practical, not generic.
Go deeper on [Aspect #N]. Give me specific examples, common mistakes to avoid, and 2-3 tools or frameworks people use for this. Flag anything that is debated or uncertain.
Write a [type - blog post, email, report] about [topic] for [audience]. Use what we covered in the previous exchanges. Tone: [describe]. Include a section on [specific aspect from step 2].
Draft to Polished
Here are my rough notes: [paste notes]. Turn these into a [type] for [audience]. Tone: [tone]. Length: [target].
This is good but: [be specific - needs stronger opening, too wordy in section 2, the conclusion does not follow from the argument, etc.] Rewrite with that fix.
Review this for: (1) clarity - can any sentence be cut or simplified? (2) tone consistency, (3) does the opening hook pull you in? (4) does the closing land? Revise as needed.
Problem Diagnosis
Here is a problem I am facing: [describe in 2-4 sentences]. The specific issue is: [be precise].
Before solving, help me understand what is actually causing this. What are the 3 most likely root causes? How would I verify which one it is?
Based on our discussion, the most likely cause is [X]. Generate 4 approaches to address this. For each: what to do, what could go wrong, and how to know if it worked.
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