8.9 KiB
8.9 KiB
Prompt Engineering Expert Skill - Complete Index
📋 Quick Navigation
Getting Started
- README.md - Start here! Overview, how to use, and quick start guide
- SUMMARY.md - What was created and how to use it
Core Skill Files
- SKILL.md - Skill metadata and capabilities overview
- CLAUDE.md - Main skill instructions and expertise areas
Documentation
- docs/BEST_PRACTICES.md - Comprehensive best practices guide
- docs/TECHNIQUES.md - Advanced prompt engineering techniques
- docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md - Common issues and solutions
Examples & Templates
- examples/EXAMPLES.md - 10 real-world examples and templates
📚 What's Included
Expertise Areas (7 Major Areas)
- Prompt Writing Best Practices
- Advanced Prompt Engineering Techniques
- Custom Instructions & System Prompts
- Prompt Optimization & Refinement
- Anti-Patterns & Common Mistakes
- Evaluation & Testing
- Multimodal & Advanced Prompting
Key Capabilities (8 Capabilities)
- Prompt Analysis
- Prompt Generation
- Prompt Refinement
- Custom Instruction Design
- Best Practice Guidance
- Anti-Pattern Recognition
- Testing Strategy
- Documentation
Use Cases (9 Use Cases)
- Refining vague or ineffective prompts
- Creating specialized system prompts
- Designing custom instructions for agents
- Optimizing for consistency and reliability
- Teaching prompt engineering best practices
- Debugging prompt performance issues
- Creating prompt templates for workflows
- Improving efficiency and token usage
- Developing evaluation frameworks
🎯 How to Use This Skill
For Prompt Analysis
"Review this prompt and suggest improvements:
[YOUR PROMPT]
Focus on: clarity, specificity, format, and consistency."
For Prompt Generation
"Create a prompt that:
- [Requirement 1]
- [Requirement 2]
- [Requirement 3]
The prompt should handle [use cases]."
For Custom Instructions
"Design custom instructions for an agent that:
- [Role/expertise]
- [Key responsibilities]
- [Behavioral guidelines]"
For Troubleshooting
"This prompt isn't working well:
[PROMPT]
Issues: [DESCRIBE ISSUES]
How can I fix it?"
📖 Documentation Structure
BEST_PRACTICES.md (Comprehensive Guide)
- Core principles (clarity, conciseness, degrees of freedom)
- Advanced techniques (CoT, few-shot, XML, role-based, prefilling, chaining)
- Custom instructions design
- Skill structure best practices
- Evaluation & testing frameworks
- Anti-patterns to avoid
- Workflows and feedback loops
- Content guidelines
- Multimodal prompting
- Development workflow
- Complete checklist
TECHNIQUES.md (Advanced Methods)
- Chain-of-Thought prompting with examples
- Few-Shot learning (1-shot, 2-shot, multi-shot)
- Structured output with XML tags
- Role-based prompting
- Prefilling responses
- Prompt chaining
- Context management
- Multimodal prompting
- Combining techniques
- Anti-patterns
TROUBLESHOOTING.md (Problem Solving)
- 8 common issues with solutions
- Debugging workflow
- Quick reference table
- Testing checklist
EXAMPLES.md (Real-World Cases)
- 10 practical examples
- Before/after comparisons
- Templates and frameworks
- Optimization checklists
✅ Best Practices Summary
Do's ✅
- Be clear and specific
- Provide examples
- Specify format
- Define constraints
- Test thoroughly
- Document assumptions
- Use progressive disclosure
- Handle edge cases
Don'ts ❌
- Be vague or ambiguous
- Assume understanding
- Skip format specification
- Ignore edge cases
- Over-specify constraints
- Use jargon without explanation
- Hardcode values
- Ignore error handling
🚀 Getting Started
Step 1: Read the Overview
Start with README.md to understand what this skill provides.
Step 2: Learn Best Practices
Review docs/BEST_PRACTICES.md for foundational knowledge.
Step 3: Explore Examples
Check examples/EXAMPLES.md for real-world use cases.
Step 4: Try It Out
Share your prompt or describe your need to get started.
Step 5: Troubleshoot
Use docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md if you encounter issues.
🔧 Advanced Topics
Chain-of-Thought Prompting
Encourage step-by-step reasoning for complex tasks. → See: TECHNIQUES.md, Section 1
Few-Shot Learning
Use examples to guide behavior without explicit instructions. → See: TECHNIQUES.md, Section 2
Structured Output
Use XML tags for clarity and parsing. → See: TECHNIQUES.md, Section 3
Role-Based Prompting
Assign expertise to guide behavior. → See: TECHNIQUES.md, Section 4
Prompt Chaining
Break complex tasks into sequential prompts. → See: TECHNIQUES.md, Section 6
Context Management
Optimize token usage and clarity. → See: TECHNIQUES.md, Section 7
Multimodal Integration
Work with images, files, and embeddings. → See: TECHNIQUES.md, Section 8
📊 File Structure
prompt-engineering-expert/
├── INDEX.md # This file
├── SUMMARY.md # What was created
├── README.md # User guide & getting started
├── SKILL.md # Skill metadata
├── CLAUDE.md # Main instructions
├── docs/
│ ├── BEST_PRACTICES.md # Best practices guide
│ ├── TECHNIQUES.md # Advanced techniques
│ └── TROUBLESHOOTING.md # Common issues & solutions
└── examples/
└── EXAMPLES.md # Real-world examples
🎓 Learning Path
Beginner
- Read: README.md
- Read: BEST_PRACTICES.md (Core Principles section)
- Review: EXAMPLES.md (Examples 1-3)
- Try: Create a simple prompt
Intermediate
- Read: TECHNIQUES.md (Sections 1-4)
- Review: EXAMPLES.md (Examples 4-7)
- Read: TROUBLESHOOTING.md
- Try: Refine an existing prompt
Advanced
- Read: TECHNIQUES.md (Sections 5-8)
- Review: EXAMPLES.md (Examples 8-10)
- Read: BEST_PRACTICES.md (Advanced sections)
- Try: Combine multiple techniques
🔗 Integration Points
This skill works well with:
- Claude Code - For testing and iterating on prompts
- Agent SDK - For implementing custom instructions
- Files API - For analyzing prompt documentation
- Vision - For multimodal prompt design
- Extended Thinking - For complex prompt reasoning
📝 Key Concepts
Clarity
- Explicit objectives
- Precise language
- Concrete examples
- Logical structure
Conciseness
- Focused content
- No redundancy
- Progressive disclosure
- Token efficiency
Consistency
- Defined constraints
- Specified format
- Clear guidelines
- Repeatable results
Completeness
- Sufficient context
- Edge case handling
- Success criteria
- Error handling
⚠️ Limitations
- Analysis Only: Doesn't execute code or run actual prompts
- No Real-Time Data: Can't access external APIs or current data
- Best Practices Based: Recommendations based on established patterns
- Testing Required: Suggestions should be validated with actual use cases
- Human Judgment: Doesn't replace human expertise in critical applications
🎯 Common Use Cases
1. Refining Vague Prompts
Transform unclear prompts into specific, actionable ones. → See: EXAMPLES.md, Example 1
2. Creating Specialized Prompts
Design prompts for specific domains or tasks. → See: EXAMPLES.md, Example 2
3. Designing Agent Instructions
Create custom instructions for AI agents and skills. → See: EXAMPLES.md, Example 2
4. Optimizing for Consistency
Improve reliability and reduce variability. → See: BEST_PRACTICES.md, Skill Structure section
5. Debugging Prompt Issues
Identify and fix problems with existing prompts. → See: TROUBLESHOOTING.md
6. Teaching Best Practices
Learn prompt engineering principles and techniques. → See: BEST_PRACTICES.md, TECHNIQUES.md
7. Building Evaluation Frameworks
Develop test cases and success criteria. → See: BEST_PRACTICES.md, Evaluation & Testing section
8. Multimodal Prompting
Design prompts for vision, embeddings, and files. → See: TECHNIQUES.md, Section 8
📞 Support & Resources
Within This Skill
- Detailed documentation
- Real-world examples
- Troubleshooting guides
- Best practice checklists
- Quick reference tables
External Resources
- Claude Documentation: https://docs.claude.com
- Anthropic Blog: https://www.anthropic.com/blog
- Claude Cookbooks: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-cookbooks
- Prompt Engineering Guide: https://www.promptingguide.ai
🚀 Next Steps
- Explore the documentation - Start with README.md
- Review examples - Check examples/EXAMPLES.md
- Try it out - Share your prompt or describe your need
- Iterate - Use feedback to improve
- Share - Help others with their prompts
Ready to master prompt engineering? Start with README.md!