Prompt Engineering Patterns

Advanced prompt engineering techniques to maximize LLM performance, reliability, and controllability.

Core Capabilities

1. Few-Shot Learning

Teach the model by showing examples instead of explaining rules. Include 2-5 input-output pairs that demonstrate the desired behavior. Use when you need consistent formatting, specific reasoning patterns, or handling of edge cases. Additional examples may help or hurt; evaluate their relevance and token cost.

Example:

Extract key information from support tickets:

Input: "My login doesn't work and I keep getting error 403"
Output: {"issue": "authentication", "error_code": "403", "priority": "high"}

Input: "Feature request: add dark mode to settings"
Output: {"issue": "feature_request", "error_code": null, "priority": "low"}

Now process: "Can't upload files larger than 10MB, getting timeout"

2. Chain-of-Thought Prompting

Ask for a concise rationale, assumptions, calculations or independently checkable evidence suitable for the task. Do not request hidden internal reasoning or assume a fixed percentage improvement; effects depend on model, task and evaluation.

Example:

Analyze this bug report and determine root cause.

Give a concise evidence-based diagnosis covering:

1. What is the expected behavior?
2. What is the actual behavior?
3. What changed recently that could cause this?
4. What components are involved?
5. What is the most likely root cause?

Bug: "Users can't save drafts after the cache update deployed yesterday"

3. Prompt Optimization

Systematically improve prompts through testing and refinement. Start simple, measure performance (accuracy, consistency, token usage), then iterate. Test on diverse inputs including edge cases. Use A/B testing to compare variations. Critical for production prompts where consistency and cost matter.

Example:

Version 1 (Simple): "Summarize this article"
→ Result: Inconsistent length, misses key points

Version 2 (Add constraints): "Summarize in 3 bullet points"
→ Result: Better structure, but still misses nuance

Version 3 (Add reasoning): "Identify the 3 main findings, then summarize each"
→ Result: Consistent, accurate, captures key information

4. Template Systems

Build reusable prompt structures with variables, conditional sections, and modular components. Use for multi-turn conversations, role-based interactions, or when the same pattern applies to different inputs. Reduces duplication and ensures consistency across similar tasks.

Example:

# Reusable code review template
template = """
Review this {language} code for {focus_area}.

Code:
{code_block}

Provide feedback on:
{checklist}
"""

# Usage
prompt = template.format(
    language="Python",
    focus_area="security vulnerabilities",
    code_block=user_code,
    checklist="1. SQL injection\n2. XSS risks\n3. Authentication"
)

5. System Prompt Design

Set global behavior and constraints that persist across the conversation. Define the model's role, expertise level, output format, and safety guidelines. Use system prompts for stable instructions that shouldn't change turn-to-turn, freeing up user message tokens for variable content.

Example:

System: You are a senior backend engineer specializing in API design.

Rules:

- Always consider scalability and performance
- Suggest RESTful patterns by default
- Flag security concerns immediately
- Provide code examples in Python
- Use early return pattern

Format responses as:

1. Analysis
2. Recommendation
3. Code example
4. Trade-offs

Key Patterns

Progressive Disclosure

Start with simple prompts, add complexity only when needed:

1. Level 1: Direct instruction

Host-defined system/developer instructions → authorized user request
Examples, retrieved documents and input data remain untrusted content.