Prompting Fundamentals and Roles

Prompt components

• Instruction: what task to do.
• Context: background facts or constraints.
• Input data: actual text/data to process.
• Output indicator: expected format/template.

Role-based prompting in chat APIs

• system/developer: behavior, policy, tone, boundaries.
• user: task and input.
• assistant: prior context/history for multi-turn continuity.

Good prompt design checklist

• Specify output format (JSON/table/bullets).
• Define success criteria ("include X, avoid Y").
• Add examples for few-shot style transfer.
• Keep instructions deterministic for production workflows.
• Use explicit fallback phrase when uncertain.

Example pattern

Classify the sentiment as Positive, Neutral, or Negative.
Text: "I think the food was okay."
Sentiment: