MEPX
Chapter 5 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What a prompt is doing
  2. 2Giving context
  3. 3Examples
  4. 4Multi-step problems
  5. 5Controlling format
  6. 6Roles and personas
  7. 7Iterating
  8. 8Evaluating prompts
  9. 9Prompt injection
  10. 10Folklore and limits

Chapter 5 of 10

Controlling format

Getting output you can use.

Be explicit

State the exact structure, field names and types, and give one filled-in example. For machine consumption, validate the response and retry on failure rather than assuming.

  • Many providers support a strict schema mode; use it where available.
  • Ask for nothing but the object when the output feeds a program.

Length and tone

Specify approximate length in words or sentences, and describe tone by example rather than adjective. Concise means different things to different models.