Tauseef FayyazA to Z
Glossary
Every concept in this sheet, plus the smaller terms it uses. Select a concept to open its card.
B
- Be specific and direct
- State the goal, the audience, the length, the format and what "done" looks like, as if briefing a smart new hire on day one.
D
- Delimiters and XML tags
- Wrapping each part of the prompt in clear markers such as
<document>,<instructions>or triple quotes so the model knows what is data and what is instruction. - Diverse, representative examples
- Choose examples that cover different cases, including tricky ones, rather than three near-copies of the easy case.
F
- Few-shot prompting
- Including a few input and output pairs before the real input so the model copies the pattern, format and tone.
G
- Give the why and the context
- Explain the purpose behind a rule and include the facts the model needs: the stack, the data, who reads the output and what it will be used for.
M
- Mark examples clearly
- Wrap each example in
<example>tags or a consistent heading and keep them separate from the real input.
O
- Output primers and prefill
- Ending the prompt with the start of the answer, such as
Label:or an opening{, so the model continues in that shape.
P
- Prompt templates and variables
- A fixed prompt with slots such as
{{QUESTION}}that your code fills in for each request.
R
- Role prompting
- Telling the model who it is, such as "You are a database engineer reviewing schema changes", to steer vocabulary, depth and priorities.
S
- Say what to do, not only what not to do
- Phrase rules positively: "Write in flowing paragraphs" instead of "Do not use Markdown".
- System prompt
- A message sent before the conversation that sets the role, tone, rules and constraints for every reply.
W
- What a prompt is
- A prompt is everything the model reads before it answers: the system prompt, earlier messages, pasted documents and your latest request.
- When examples beat instructions
- Use examples for format, tone and fuzzy labels; use instructions for hard rules, limits and anything that must never happen.
Z
- Zero-shot prompting
- Asking for a task with instructions only and no examples.