Prompt Engineering Mastery
Master the skill that makes or breaks every AI app. Work through techniques in order — Foundation first, then Advanced.
Use the Techniques tab to learn, Templates to copy-paste, and Plan for a structured 6-week practice schedule.
The Expert's Mental Model
A prompt is a specification, not a question. The more precisely you specify Role + Context + Task + Format + Constraints, the more reliably you get expert-level output. Every technique below is just a way to add one of these dimensions.
Core Prompting Techniques
Foundation5 techniques
These are non-negotiable. Master these before anything else. Most people stop here — experts start here.
Zero-Shot Prompting
All use casesAsk directly with no examples. The baseline of everything.
Few-Shot Prompting
Writing, classification, formattingGive the model 2–5 examples of input→output before your real request. Teaches format and tone without fine-tuning.
Chain-of-Thought (CoT)
Reasoning, debugging, research, decisionsTell the model to think step by step before answering. Dramatically improves accuracy on complex tasks.
Role / Persona Prompting
All use casesAssign the model an expert identity. Changes vocabulary, depth, assumptions, and communication style.
Output Format Control
Coding, automation, structured dataExplicitly specify the output format — JSON, markdown table, bullet points, specific length, etc.
Power Techniques
Intermediate5 techniques
Expert Techniques
Advanced5 techniques