Generated banner for Prompt Engineering Patterns
Generated logo for Prompt Engineering Patterns

Prompt Engineering Patterns

Seth HobsonCommunityCreated by Seth Hobson

  • Skill
  • Guidelines
  • Agent tooling
  • MIT
  • Low risk
  • Has scripts

From the author

This skill should be used when the user asks to "optimize a prompt", "improve prompt performance", "design a prompt template", "write better prompts", "debug prompt issues", "use chain-of-thought", "structured prompting", "few-shot prompting", or wants to apply advanced prompt engineering patterns for production LLM applications.
— the description by Seth Hobson

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a framework for developing and refining prompts for LLM applications. It covers methodologies such as few-shot learning, chain-of-thought reasoning, and structured output generation. The content includes guidance on creating reusable templates, implementing system prompts, and debugging prompt behavior to achieve consistent results.

What it does

  • Provides patterns for few-shot learning and dynamic example selection
  • Explains techniques for eliciting step-by-step reasoning via chain-of-thought
  • Demonstrates how to enforce structured outputs using schemas
  • Offers strategies for iterative prompt optimization and testing
  • Includes methods for building modular and conditional prompt templates
  • Defines approaches for setting model behavior through system prompts

When to use it

  • When designing prompts for complex LLM tasks
  • When needing to improve the consistency of model outputs
  • When implementing reasoning chains for logic or math problems
  • When requiring reliable, machine-readable output formats
  • When creating reusable prompt libraries for applications

Advantages

  • Standardizes prompt development through established patterns
  • Enables more predictable model behavior
  • Supports integration with structured data workflows
  • Facilitates modular design for complex prompt systems

Usage examples

“How can I use few-shot learning to improve my model's classification accuracy?”
The agent provides strategies for selecting relevant examples and constructing effective input-output pairs to guide the model.
“Show me how to force an LLM to return JSON.”
The agent demonstrates how to use schema enforcement and structured output patterns to ensure the model returns valid JSON.
“My prompt is producing inconsistent results, how do I debug it?”
The agent suggests iterative refinement techniques, such as adding reasoning steps or providing better examples to stabilize output.
“How do I implement chain-of-thought in my prompt?”
The agent explains how to use trigger phrases or few-shot reasoning traces to elicit step-by-step logic from the model.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/wshobson/prompt-engineering-patterns/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip prompt-engineering-patterns.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Seth Hobson

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

  • Using structured outputs (JSON mode) for reliable parsing

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. Structured Outputs
  • JSON mode for reliable parsing

  • Pydantic schema enforcement

  • Type-safe response handling

  • Error handling for malformed outputs

4. 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

5. Template Systems
  • Variable interpolation and formatting

  • Conditional prompt sections

  • Multi-turn conversation templates

  • Role-based prompt composition

  • Modular prompt components

6. 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 langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic
from langchain_core.prompts import ChatPromptTemplate
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field

# Define structured output schema
class SQLQuery(BaseModel):
    query: str = Field(description="The SQL query")
    explanation: str = Field(description="Brief explanation of what the query does")
    tables_used: list[str] = Field(description="List of tables referenced")

# Initialize model with structured output
llm = ChatAnthropic(model="claude-sonnet-5")
structured_llm = llm.with_structured_output(SQLQuery)

# Create prompt template
prompt = ChatPromptTemplate.from_messages([
    ("system", """You are an expert SQL developer. Generate efficient, secure SQL queries.
    Always use parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection.
    Explain your reasoning briefly."""),
    ("user", "Convert this to SQL: {query}")
])

# Create chain
chain = prompt | structured_llm

# Use
result = await chain.ainvoke({
    "query": "Find all users who registered in the last 30 days"
})
print(result.query)
print(result.explanation)

Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

Best Practices

  1. Be Specific: Vague prompts produce inconsistent results

  2. Show, Don't Tell: Examples are more effective than descriptions

  3. Use Structured Outputs: Enforce schemas with Pydantic for reliability

  4. Test Extensively: Evaluate on diverse, representative inputs

  5. Iterate Rapidly: Small changes can have large impacts

  6. Monitor Performance: Track metrics in production

  7. Version Control: Treat prompts as code with proper versioning

  8. 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

  • No error handling: Assuming outputs will always be well-formed

  • Hardcoded values: Not parameterizing prompts for reuse

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, parseable outputs

  • User Satisfaction: Ratings and feedback

Files

references/few-shot-learning.md

Few-Shot Learning Guide

Overview

Few-shot learning enables LLMs to perform tasks by providing a small number of examples (typically 1-10) within the prompt. This technique is highly effective for tasks requiring specific formats, styles, or domain knowledge.

Example Selection Strategies

1. Semantic Similarity

Select examples most similar to the input query using embedding-based retrieval.

from sentence_transformers import SentenceTransformer
import numpy as np

class SemanticExampleSelector:
    def __init__(self, examples, model_name='all-MiniLM-L6-v2'):
        self.model = SentenceTransformer(model_name)
        self.examples = examples
        self.example_embeddings = self.model.encode([ex['input'] for ex in examples])

    def select(self, query, k=3):
        query_embedding = self.model.encode([query])
        similarities = np.dot(self.example_embeddings, query_embedding.T).flatten()
        top_indices = np.argsort(similarities)[-k:][::-1]
        return [self.examples[i] for i in top_indices]

Best For: Question answering, text classification, extraction tasks

2. Diversity Sampling

Maximize coverage of different patterns and edge cases.

from sklearn.cluster import KMeans

class DiversityExampleSelector:
    def __init__(self, examples, model_name='all-MiniLM-L6-v2'):
        self.model = SentenceTransformer(model_name)
        self.examples = examples
        self.embeddings = self.model.encode([ex['input'] for ex in examples])

    def select(self, k=5):
        # Use k-means to find diverse cluster centers
        kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=k, random_state=42)
        kmeans.fit(self.embeddings)

        # Select example closest to each cluster center
        diverse_examples = []
        for center in kmeans.cluster_centers_:
            distances = np.linalg.norm(self.embeddings - center, axis=1)
            closest_idx = np.argmin(distances)
            diverse_examples.append(self.examples[closest_idx])

        return diverse_examples

Best For: Demonstrating task variability, edge case handling

3. Difficulty-Based Selection

Gradually increase example complexity to scaffold learning.

class ProgressiveExampleSelector:
    def __init__(self, examples):
        # Examples should have 'difficulty' scores (0-1)
        self.examples = sorted(examples, key=lambda x: x['difficulty'])

    def select(self, k=3):
        # Select examples with linearly increasing difficulty
        step = len(self.examples) // k
        return [self.examples[i * step] for i in range(k)]

Best For: Complex reasoning tasks, code generation

4. Error-Based Selection

Include examples that address common failure modes.

class ErrorGuidedSelector:
    def __init__(self, examples, error_patterns):
        self.examples = examples
        self.error_patterns = error_patterns  # Common mistakes to avoid

    def select(self, query, k=3):
        # Select examples demonstrating correct handling of error patterns
        selected = []
        for pattern in self.error_patterns[:k]:
            matching = [ex for ex in self.examples if pattern in ex['demonstrates']]
            if matching:
                selected.append(matching[0])
        return selected

Best For: Tasks with known failure patterns, safety-critical applications

Example Construction Best Practices

Format Consistency

All examples should follow identical formatting:

# Good: Consistent format
examples = [
    {
        "input": "What is the capital of France?",
        "output": "Paris"
    },
    {
        "input": "What is the capital of Germany?",
        "output": "Berlin"
    }
]

# Bad: Inconsistent format
examples = [
    "Q: What is the capital of France? A: Paris",
    {"question": "What is the capital of Germany?", "answer": "Berlin"}
]
Input-Output Alignment

Ensure examples demonstrate the exact task you want the model to perform:

# Good: Clear input-output relationship
example = {
    "input": "Sentiment: The movie was terrible and boring.",
    "output": "Negative"
}

# Bad: Ambiguous relationship
example = {
    "input": "The movie was terrible and boring.",
    "output": "This review expresses negative sentiment toward the film."
}
Complexity Balance

Include examples spanning the expected difficulty range:

examples = [
    # Simple case
    {"input": "2 + 2", "output": "4"},

    # Moderate case
    {"input": "15 * 3 + 8", "output": "53"},

    # Complex case
    {"input": "(12 + 8) * 3 - 15 / 5", "output": "57"}
]

Context Window Management

Token Budget Allocation

Typical distribution for a 4K context window:

System Prompt:        500 tokens  (12%)
Few-Shot Examples:   1500 tokens  (38%)
User Input:           500 tokens  (12%)
Response:            1500 tokens  (38%)
Dynamic Example Truncation
class TokenAwareSelector:
    def __init__(self, examples, tokenizer, max_tokens=1500):
        self.examples = examples
        self.tokenizer = tokenizer
        self.max_tokens = max_tokens

    def select(self, query, k=5):
        selected = []
        total_tokens = 0

        # Start with most relevant examples
        candidates = self.rank_by_relevance(query)

        for example in candidates[:k]:
            example_tokens = len(self.tokenizer.encode(
                f"Input: {example['input']}\nOutput: {example['output']}\n\n"
            ))

            if total_tokens + example_tokens <= self.max_tokens:
                selected.append(example)
                total_tokens += example_tokens
            else:
                break

        return selected

Edge Case Handling

Include Boundary Examples
edge_case_examples = [
    # Empty input
    {"input": "", "output": "Please provide input text."},

    # Very long input (truncated in example)
    {"input": "..." + "word " * 1000, "output": "Input exceeds maximum length."},

    # Ambiguous input
    {"input": "bank", "output": "Ambiguous: Could refer to financial institution or river bank."},

    # Invalid input
    {"input": "!@#$%", "output": "Invalid input format. Please provide valid text."}
]

Few-Shot Prompt Templates

Classification Template
def build_classification_prompt(examples, query, labels):
    prompt = f"Classify the text into one of these categories: {', '.join(labels)}\n\n"

    for ex in examples:
        prompt += f"Text: {ex['input']}\nCategory: {ex['output']}\n\n"

    prompt += f"Text: {query}\nCategory:"
    return prompt
Extraction Template
def build_extraction_prompt(examples, query):
    prompt = "Extract structured information from the text.\n\n"

    for ex in examples:
        prompt += f"Text: {ex['input']}\nExtracted: {json.dumps(ex['output'])}\n\n"

    prompt += f"Text: {query}\nExtracted:"
    return prompt
Transformation Template
def build_transformation_prompt(examples, query):
    prompt = "Transform the input according to the pattern shown in examples.\n\n"

    for ex in examples:
        prompt += f"Input: {ex['input']}\nOutput: {ex['output']}\n\n"

    prompt += f"Input: {query}\nOutput:"
    return prompt

Evaluation and Optimization

Example Quality Metrics
def evaluate_example_quality(example, validation_set):
    metrics = {
        'clarity': rate_clarity(example),  # 0-1 score
        'representativeness': calculate_similarity_to_validation(example, validation_set),
        'difficulty': estimate_difficulty(example),
        'uniqueness': calculate_uniqueness(example, other_examples)
    }
    return metrics
A/B Testing Example Sets
class ExampleSetTester:
    def __init__(self, llm_client):
        self.client = llm_client

    def compare_example_sets(self, set_a, set_b, test_queries):
        results_a = self.evaluate_set(set_a, test_queries)
        results_b = self.evaluate_set(set_b, test_queries)

        return {
            'set_a_accuracy': results_a['accuracy'],
            'set_b_accuracy': results_b['accuracy'],
            'winner': 'A' if results_a['accuracy'] > results_b['accuracy'] else 'B',
            'improvement': abs(results_a['accuracy'] - results_b['accuracy'])
        }

    def evaluate_set(self, examples, test_queries):
        correct = 0
        for query in test_queries:
            prompt = build_prompt(examples, query['input'])
            response = self.client.complete(prompt)
            if response == query['expected_output']:
                correct += 1
        return {'accuracy': correct / len(test_queries)}

Advanced Techniques

Meta-Learning (Learning to Select)

Train a small model to predict which examples will be most effective:

from sklearn.ensemble import RandomForestClassifier

class LearnedExampleSelector:
    def __init__(self):
        self.selector_model = RandomForestClassifier()

    def train(self, training_data):
        # training_data: list of (query, example, success) tuples
        features = []
        labels = []

        for query, example, success in training_data:
            features.append(self.extract_features(query, example))
            labels.append(1 if success else 0)

        self.selector_model.fit(features, labels)

    def extract_features(self, query, example):
        return [
            semantic_similarity(query, example['input']),
            len(example['input']),
            len(example['output']),
            keyword_overlap(query, example['input'])
        ]

    def select(self, query, candidates, k=3):
        scores = []
        for example in candidates:
            features = self.extract_features(query, example)
            score = self.selector_model.predict_proba([features])[0][1]
            scores.append((score, example))

        return [ex for _, ex in sorted(scores, reverse=True)[:k]]
Adaptive Example Count

Dynamically adjust the number of examples based on task difficulty:

class AdaptiveExampleSelector:
    def __init__(self, examples):
        self.examples = examples

    def select(self, query, max_examples=5):
        # Start with 1 example
        for k in range(1, max_examples + 1):
            selected = self.get_top_k(query, k)

            # Quick confidence check (could use a lightweight model)
            if self.estimated_confidence(query, selected) > 0.9:
                return selected

        return selected  # Return max_examples if never confident enough

Common Mistakes

  1. Too Many Examples: More isn't always better; can dilute focus

  2. Irrelevant Examples: Examples should match the target task closely

  3. Inconsistent Formatting: Confuses the model about output format

  4. Overfitting to Examples: Model copies example patterns too literally

  5. Ignoring Token Limits: Running out of space for actual input/output

Resources

  • Example dataset repositories

  • Pre-built example selectors for common tasks

  • Evaluation frameworks for few-shot performance

  • Token counting utilities for different models

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs Python

Security

What our scanner noticed· Low risk

  • Scripts that your agent may run

This skill includes scripts that your agent may run. Read them before you use it.

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by
Seth Hobson
Publisher
Seth Hobson (Community)
Source
wshobson/agents · plugins/llm-application-dev/skills/prompt-engineering-patterns · commit 4bde316
Licence
MIT License (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Seth Hobson or Seth Hobson.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download prompt-engineering-patterns.zip