Prompt Engineering Patterns

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

When to Use This Skill

• Designing complex prompts for production LLM applications
• Optimizing prompt performance and consistency
• Implementing structured reasoning patterns (chain-of-thought, tree-of-thought)
• Building few-shot learning systems with dynamic example selection
• Creating reusable prompt templates with variable interpolation
• Debugging and refining prompts that produce inconsistent outputs
• Implementing system prompts for specialized AI assistants

Core Capabilities

1. Few-Shot Learning

• Example selection strategies (semantic similarity, diversity sampling)
• Balancing example count with context window constraints
• Constructing effective demonstrations with input-output pairs
• Dynamic example retrieval from knowledge bases
• Handling edge cases through strategic example selection

2. Chain-of-Thought Prompting

• Step-by-step reasoning elicitation
• Zero-shot CoT with "Let's think step by step"
• Few-shot CoT with reasoning traces
• Self-consistency techniques (sampling multiple reasoning paths)
• Verification and validation steps

3. Prompt Optimization

• Iterative refinement workflows
• A/B testing prompt variations
• Measuring prompt performance metrics (accuracy, consistency, latency)
• Reducing token usage while maintaining quality
• Handling edge cases and failure modes

4. Template Systems

• Variable interpolation and formatting
• Conditional prompt sections
• Multi-turn conversation templates
• Role-based prompt composition
• Modular prompt components

5. System Prompt Design

• Setting model behavior and constraints
• Defining output formats and structure
• Establishing role and expertise
• Safety guidelines and content policies
• Context setting and background information

Quick Start

from prompt_optimizer import PromptTemplate, FewShotSelector

# Define a structured prompt template
template = PromptTemplate(
    system="You are an expert SQL developer. Generate efficient, secure SQL queries.",
    instruction="Convert the following natural language query to SQL:\n{query}",
    few_shot_examples=True,
    output_format="SQL code block with explanatory comments"
)

# Configure few-shot learning
selector = FewShotSelector(
    examples_db="sql_examples.jsonl",
    selection_strategy="semantic_similarity",
    max_examples=3
)

# Generate optimized prompt
prompt = template.render(
    query="Find all users who registered in the last 30 days",
    examples=selector.select(query="user registration date filter")
)

Key Patterns

Progressive Disclosure

Start with simple prompts, add complexity only when needed:

1. Level 1: Direct instruction
   - "Summarize this article"

2. Level 2: Add constraints
   - "Summarize this article in 3 bullet points, focusing on key findings"

3. Level 3: Add reasoning
   - "Read this article, identify the main findings, then summarize in 3 bullet points"

4. Level 4: Add examples
   - Include 2-3 example summaries with input-output pairs

Instruction Hierarchy

[System Context] → [Task Instruction] → [Examples] → [Input Data] → [Output Format]

Error Recovery

Build prompts that gracefully handle failures:
- Include fallback instructions
- Request confidence scores
- Ask for alternative interpretations when uncertain
- Specify how to indicate missing information

Best Practices

1. Be Specific: Vague prompts produce inconsistent results
2. Show, Don't Tell: Examples are more effective than descriptions
3. Test Extensively: Evaluate on diverse, representative inputs
4. Iterate Rapidly: Small changes can have large impacts
5. Monitor Performance: Track metrics in production
6. Version Control: Treat prompts as code with proper versioning
7. Document Intent: Explain why prompts are structured as they are

Common Pitfalls

• Over-engineering: Starting with complex prompts before trying simple ones
• Example pollution: Using examples that don't match the target task
• Context overflow: Exceeding token limits with excessive examples
• Ambiguous instructions: Leaving room for multiple interpretations
• Ignoring edge cases: Not testing on unusual or boundary inputs

Integration Patterns

With RAG Systems

# Combine retrieved context with prompt engineering
prompt = f"""Given the following context:
{retrieved_context}

{few_shot_examples}

Question: {user_question}

Provide a detailed answer based solely on the context above. If the context doesn't contain enough information, explicitly state what's missing."""

With Validation

# Add self-verification step
prompt = f"""{main_task_prompt}

After generating your response, verify it meets these criteria:
1. Answers the question directly
2. Uses only information from provided context
3. Cites specific sources
4. Acknowledges any uncertainty

If verification fails, revise your response."""

Performance Optimization

Token Efficiency

• Remove redundant words and phrases
• Use abbreviations consistently after first definition
• Consolidate similar instructions
• Move stable content to system prompts

Latency Reduction

• Minimize prompt length without sacrificing quality
• Use streaming for long-form outputs
• Cache common prompt prefixes
• Batch similar requests when possible

Resources

• references/few-shot-learning.md: Deep dive on example selection and construction
• references/chain-of-thought.md: Advanced reasoning elicitation techniques
• references/prompt-optimization.md: Systematic refinement workflows
• references/prompt-templates.md: Reusable template patterns
• references/system-prompts.md: System-level prompt design
• assets/prompt-template-library.md: Battle-tested prompt templates
• assets/few-shot-examples.json: Curated example datasets
• scripts/optimize-prompt.py: Automated prompt optimization tool

Success Metrics

Track these KPIs for your prompts:
- Accuracy: Correctness of outputs
- Consistency: Reproducibility across similar inputs
- Latency: Response time (P50, P95, P99)
- Token Usage: Average tokens per request
- Success Rate: Percentage of valid outputs
- User Satisfaction: Ratings and feedback

Next Steps

1. Review the prompt template library for common patterns
2. Experiment with few-shot learning for your specific use case
3. Implement prompt versioning and A/B testing
4. Set up automated evaluation pipelines
5. Document your prompt engineering decisions and learnings