Prompt Engineering

---
name: prompt-engineering
description: Expert guide on prompt engineering patterns, best practices, and optimization
  techniques. Use when user wants to improve prompts, learn prompting strategies,
  or debug agent behavior.
risk: safe
source: community
date_added: '2026-02-27'
license: MIT
---
# Prompt Engineering Guide

## When to Use

Use this skill as needed to perform the specified automation task.

Master prompt engineering for AI models via [inference.sh](https://inference.sh) CLI.

![Prompt Engineering Guide](https://cloud.inference.sh/app/files/u/4mg21r6ta37mpaz6ktzwtt8krr/01kgvftjwhby36trvaj66bwzcf.jpeg)

## Quick Start

```bash
curl -fsSL https://cli.inference.sh | sh && infsh login

# Well-structured LLM prompt
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "You are a senior software engineer. Review this code for security vulnerabilities:\n\n```python\nuser_input = request.args.get(\"query\")\nresult = db.execute(f\"SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = {user_input}\")\n```\n\nProvide specific issues and fixes."
}'
```

## LLM Prompting

### Basic Structure

```
[Role/Context] + [Task] + [Constraints] + [Output Format]
```

### Role Prompting

```bash
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "You are an expert data scientist with 15 years of experience in machine learning. Explain gradient descent to a beginner, using simple analogies."
}'
```

### Task Clarity

```bash
# Bad: vague
"Help me with my code"

# Good: specific
"Debug this Python function that should return the sum of even numbers from a list, but returns 0 for all inputs:

def sum_evens(numbers):
    total = 0
    for n in numbers:
        if n % 2 == 0:
            total += n
        return total

Identify the bug and provide the corrected code."
```

### Chain-of-Thought

```bash
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "Solve this step by step:\n\nA store sells apples for $2 each and oranges for $3 each. If someone buys 5 fruits and spends $12, how many of each fruit did they buy?\n\nThink through this step by step before giving the final answer."
}'
```

### Few-Shot Examples

```bash
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "Convert these sentences to formal business English:\n\nExample 1:\nInput: gonna send u the report tmrw\nOutput: I will send you the report tomorrow.\n\nExample 2:\nInput: cant make the meeting, something came up\nOutput: I apologize, but I will be unable to attend the meeting due to an unforeseen circumstance.\n\nNow convert:\nInput: hey can we push the deadline back a bit?"
}'
```

### Output Format Specification

```bash
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "Analyze the sentiment of these customer reviews. Return a JSON array with objects containing \"text\", \"sentiment\" (positive/negative/neutral), and \"confidence\" (0-1).\n\nReviews:\n1. \"Great product, fast shipping!\"\n2. \"Meh, its okay I guess\"\n3. \"Worst purchase ever, total waste of money\"\n\nReturn only valid JSON, no explanation."
}'
```

### Constraint Setting

```bash
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "Summarize this article in exactly 3 bullet points. Each bullet must be under 20 words. Focus only on actionable insights, not background information.\n\n[article text]"
}'
```

## Image Generation Prompting

### Basic Structure

```
[Subject] + [Style] + [Composition] + [Lighting] + [Technical]
```

### Subject Description

```bash
# Bad: vague
"a cat"

# Good: specific
infsh app run falai/flux-dev --input '{
  "prompt": "A fluffy orange tabby cat with green eyes, sitting on a vintage leather armchair"
}'
```

### Style Keywords

```bash
infsh app run falai/flux-dev --input '{
  "prompt": "Portrait photograph of a woman, shot on Kodak Portra 400 film, soft natural lighting, shallow depth of field, nostalgic mood, analog photography aesthetic"
}'
```

### Composition Control

```bash
infsh app run falai/flux-dev --input '{
  "prompt": "Wide establishing shot of a cyberpunk city skyline at night, rule of thirds composition, neon signs in foreground, towering skyscrapers in background, rain-slicked streets"
}'
```

### Quality Keywords

```
photorealistic, 8K, ultra detailed, sharp focus, professional,
masterpiece, high quality, best quality, intricate details
```

### Negative Prompts

```bash
infsh app run falai/flux-dev --input '{
  "prompt": "Professional headshot portrait, clean background",
  "negative_prompt": "blurry, distorted, extra limbs, watermark, text, low quality, cartoon, anime"
}'
```

## Video Prompting

### Basic Structure

```
[Shot Type] + [Subject] + [Action] + [Setting] + [Style]
```

### Camera Movement

```bash
infsh app run google/veo-3-1-fast --input '{
  "prompt": "Slow tracking shot following a woman walking through a sunlit forest, golden hour lighting, shallow depth of field, cinematic, 4K"
}'
```

### Action Description

```bash
infsh app run google/veo-3-1-fast --input '{
  "prompt": "Close-up of hands kneading bread dough on a wooden surface, flour dust floating in morning light, slow motion, cozy baking aesthetic"
}'
```

### Temporal Keywords

```
slow motion, timelapse, real-time, smooth motion,
continuous shot, quick cuts, frozen moment
```

## Advanced Techniques

### System Prompts

```bash
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "system": "You are a helpful coding assistant. Always provide code with comments. If you are unsure about something, say so rather than guessing.",
  "prompt": "Write a Python function to validate email addresses using regex."
}'
```

### Structured Output

```bash
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "Extract information from this text and return as JSON:\n\n\"John Smith, CEO of TechCorp, announced yesterday that the company raised $50 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Venture Partners.\"\n\nSchema:\n{\n  \"person\": string,\n  \"title\": string,\n  \"company\": string,\n  \"event\": string,\n  \"amount\": string,\n  \"investor\": string\n}"
}'
```

### Iterative Refinement

```bash
# Start broad
infsh app run falai/flux-dev --input '{
  "prompt": "A castle on a hill"
}'

# Add specifics
infsh app run falai/flux-dev --input '{
  "prompt": "A medieval stone castle on a grassy hill"
}'

# Add style
infsh app run falai/flux-dev --input '{
  "prompt": "A medieval stone castle on a grassy hill, dramatic sunset sky, fantasy art style, epic composition"
}'

# Add technical
infsh app run falai/flux-dev --input '{
  "prompt": "A medieval stone castle on a grassy hill, dramatic sunset sky, fantasy art style by Greg Rutkowski, epic composition, 8K, highly detailed"
}'
```

### Multi-Turn Reasoning

```bash
# First: analyze
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "Analyze this business problem: Our e-commerce site has a 70% cart abandonment rate. List potential causes."
}'

# Second: prioritize
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "Given these causes of cart abandonment: [previous output], rank them by likely impact and ease of fixing. Format as a priority matrix."
}'

# Third: action plan
infsh app run openrouter/claude-sonnet-45 --input '{
  "prompt": "For the top 3 causes identified, provide specific A/B tests we can run to validate and fix each issue."
}'
```

## Model-Specific Tips

### Claude

- Excels at nuanced instructions
- Responds well to role-playing
- Good at following complex constraints
- Prefers explicit output formats

### GPT-4

- Strong at code generation
- Works well with examples
- Good structured output
- Responds to "let's think step by step"

### FLUX

- Detailed subject descriptions
- Style references work well
- Lighting keywords important
- Negative prompts supported

### Veo

- Camera movement keywords
- Cinematic language works well
- Action descriptions important
- Include temporal context

## Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Problem | Fix |
|---------|---------|-----|
| Too vague | Unpredictable output | Add specifics |
| Too long | Model loses focus | Prioritize key info |
| Conflicting | Confuses model | Remove contradictions |
| No format | Inconsistent output | Specify format |
| No examples | Unclear expectations | Add few-shot |

## Prompt Templates

### Code Review

```
Review this [language] code for:
1. Bugs and logic errors
2. Security vulnerabilities
3. Performance issues
4. Code style/best practices

Code:
[code]

For each issue found, provide:
- Line number
- Issue description
- Severity (high/medium/low)
- Suggested fix
```

### Content Writing

```
Write a [content type] about [topic].

Audience: [target audience]
Tone: [formal/casual/professional]
Length: [word count]
Key points to cover:
1. [point 1]
2. [point 2]
3. [point 3]

Include: [specific elements]
Avoid: [things to exclude]
```

### Image Generation

```
[Subject with details], [setting/background], [lighting type],
[art style or photography style], [composition], [quality keywords]
```

## Related Skills

```bash
# Video prompting guide
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@video-prompting-guide

# LLM models
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@llm-models

# Image generation
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@ai-image-generation

- **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

## When to Use
This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.

## Limitations
- Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
- Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
- Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.