AI Prompt Engineering Guide: From Beginner to Advanced
Copy & Paste Ready: Every prompt below is ready to use. Replace [bracketed text] with your specific details.
Fundamentals
Be specific: Instead of ‘write about dogs’, try ‘Write a 500-word article about the health benefits of owning a Golden Retriever for seniors, backed by research.’
Set the role: ‘You are a senior software engineer with 15 years of Python experience. Review this code for production readiness.’
Provide examples: Show the AI what you want by including 1-2 examples of the desired output format.
Intermediate Techniques
Chain of thought: ‘Think through this step by step before providing your answer.’ Forces more thorough reasoning.
Constraints: ‘Write a product description under 100 words. Use no adjectives. Focus on features and benefits only.’
Format specification: ‘Respond in a markdown table with columns: Feature, Pros, Cons, Score (1-10).’ Controls output structure.
Advanced Techniques
Few-shot prompting: Provide 3-5 examples of input-output pairs before your actual request. The AI learns the pattern.
Iterative refinement: Start broad, then narrow. ‘Give me 10 ideas’ → ‘Expand on idea #3’ → ‘Rewrite with more technical detail.’
Meta-prompting: ‘What information would you need from me to write the best possible [output type]?’ Let the AI ask clarifying questions.
Tool-Specific Tips
ChatGPT: Use Custom Instructions to set persistent context. Create Custom GPTs for repeated workflows.
Claude: Leverage the 200K context window. Upload reference documents before asking questions.
Cursor: Use @file references and be specific about which files to modify. Describe the desired behavior, not just the code change.
Tips for Better Results
- Be specific: The more detail you provide, the better the output
- Iterate: Use the first response as a starting point, then refine
- Add context: Tell the AI about your audience, goals, and constraints
- Set the format: Specify bullet points, table, paragraphs, or other formats
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