Prompt Optimization

Skill for analyzing and improving existing prompts.

References

• common-problems.md - Load when: diagnosing a vague or ambiguous prompt — 5 before/after examples (vague instructions, missing context, undefined format, no error handling, weak emphasis)
• improvement-techniques.md - Load when: strengthening a prompt with Chain-of-Thought, few-shot examples, or reinforced guardrails
• scorecard-template.md - Load when: writing the before/after optimization report to hand off

Optimization Workflow

1. ANALYZE current prompt
   ↓
2. IDENTIFY issues
   ↓
3. APPLY corrections
   ↓
4. VALIDATE improvement
   ↓
5. DOCUMENT changes

Analysis Checklist

Clarity

• Unambiguous instructions?
• Clearly defined objective?
• Precise vocabulary?

Structure

• Well-delimited sections?
• Logical order?
• Clear hierarchy?

Completeness

• Output format defined?
• Error cases handled?
• Examples if needed?

Guardrails

• Explicit limits?
• Forbidden behaviors listed?
• Appropriate security?

For common problem patterns with before/after fixes, see common-problems.md. For techniques to strengthen a prompt (CoT, examples, guardrails), see improvement-techniques.md.

Forbidden

• Never change the original meaning of the prompt
• Never add unrequested features
• Never remove existing guardrails
• Never make the prompt longer without justification