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F2. Prompt Engineering

Track: Path 0: AI Foundations · Module: F2 Last updated: 2026-07-31 Level: Beginner → Intermediate Time: 3 hours Prerequisite: F1 The Evolution of AI


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F1["F1 The Evolution of AI"]
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F2[" F2 Prompt Engineering<br/>(you are here)"]:::current
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F3["F3 Knowledge & RAG"]
F3 --> F4
F4["F4 Automation & Agents"]
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Chapter Navigation

  1. Why prompts matter · 2. The CRISP framework · 3. Six advanced techniques · 4. Conventions used here · 5. From prompt to skill · 6. Template library · 7. Common mistakes & fixes · 8. Advanced: context engineering · 9. Learning resources

What You’ll Master

The prompt is your only interface to the AI. With the same model, a well-written prompt and a poorly written one can differ enormously.

After this module you’ll be able to:

  • Write structured, high-quality prompts with the CRISP framework
  • Use 6 advanced techniques (Chain-of-Thought, few-shot, and more)
  • Draw on 20+ ready-to-use prompt templates for cross-border e-commerce
  • Recognize and fix common prompt mistakes
  • Understand the shift from prompt engineering to context engineering

Core idea: prompt engineering isn’t “writing one good instruction” — it’s “designing a complete communication protocol.” You’re giving the AI not just a question, but a full definition of role, background, constraints, format, and expectations.


1. Why Prompts Matter

1.1 Same question, different prompts

Scenario: analyzing competitor reviews

Bad prompt:

Analyze these reviews for me

AI output: a vague summary — no structure, no actionable advice.

Good prompt:

You are a senior Amazon product manager specializing in consumer electronics.
I'll give you a set of 1–3 star reviews for competitor Bluetooth earbuds (50 total).

Analyze them and output:
1. The top 5 user pain points (ranked by mention frequency)
2. 1–2 representative review quotes per pain point
3. An improvement suggestion per pain point
4. Which pain points are easiest to solve through product design

Output format: table
Language: English

[Paste the reviews here]

AI output: a structured table — pain points ranked by frequency, each with quotes and actionable improvements.

Where’s the difference?

DimensionBad promptGood prompt
Rolenone“senior Amazon product manager”
Backgroundnone“consumer electronics,” “Bluetooth earbuds,” “1–3 star reviews”
Concrete asks“analyze”4 explicit output requirements
Output formatnone“table”
Languagenone“English”

1.2 The essence of a prompt: shrinking the AI’s “guess space”

Recall F1: an LLM is a next-word predictor. When your prompt is vague, the AI has too many possible directions and picks the “most common” one — usually generic filler.

When your prompt is precise, you shrink its guess space down to the direction you want.

Vague prompt → huge output space → most likely a mediocre result
Precise prompt → small output space → most likely the result you wanted

It’s exactly like assigning work to a new hire:

  • “Make me a report” → they don’t know what report, for whom, in what format, due when
  • “Make a Q1 sales analysis for the boss, as slides, with YoY growth and the top 10 products, by Friday” → they know what to do

1.3 The ROI of prompt engineering

InvestmentReturn
2 extra minutes writing the prompt20 minutes saved editing the output
Building a prompt template library (one-time 2 h)30 minutes/day saved per teammate
Learning the CRISP framework (this module, 3 h)50%+ quality lift on every AI interaction

2. The CRISP Framework: a Method for Structured Prompts

2.1 What is CRISP

CRISP is a framework for writing high-quality prompts — five letters, five elements:

C Context: give the AI enough background
R Role: define what role the AI should play
I Instructions: state exactly what to do
S Specifications: define output format, length, language, ...
P Proof: ask the AI for evidence or its reasoning

2.2 Each element in detail

C — Context

Tell the AI “the situation in which you’re asking.” The richer the background, the more precise the answer.

No contextWith context
“Write me a product title”“I sell a portable neck fan on Amazon US, target customers are outdoor-sports enthusiasts, price $25, main competitors are JISULIFE and TORRAS”

Context checklist (cross-border e-commerce):

  • What’s the product? Category, traits, selling points
  • Target market? US/EU/JP
  • Target customer? Age, scenario, needs
  • Who are the competitors? Price band, strengths/weaknesses
  • Your constraints? Budget, time, resources

R — Role

Give the AI a professional role and it will answer with that role’s knowledge and lens.

ScenarioSuggested role
Writing listings“You are an Amazon listing optimization expert with 5 years’ experience”
Review analysis“You are a senior product manager focused on consumer electronics”
Ad optimization“You are an Amazon PPC expert”
Compliance questions“You are a cross-border compliance consultant fluent in EU/US/JP regulation”
Supplier negotiation“You are a procurement manager with 10 years’ experience”
Market analysis“You are an e-commerce industry analyst”

Why do roles work? Because the training data contains text from different roles. Specify “Amazon PPC expert” and the AI leans toward PPC terminology and analytical frames.

I — Instructions

State exactly what to do. Good instructions are specific, executable, and prioritized.

VagueSpecific
“Analyze this data”“From these search terms, find terms with ACOS > 50% and clicks > 100, sorted by spend descending”
“Write a title”“Write 3 Amazon title variants, each ≤ 200 characters, containing keywords [X], [Y], [Z]”
“Give me advice”“Give 3 concrete improvements, each with: problem, fix, expected impact”

S — Specifications

Define what the output should look like.

Spec typeExamples
Format“output as a table,” “use Markdown,” “numbered list”
Length“each point ≤ 50 words,” “500–800 words total”
Language“answer in Chinese,” “listing in English, analysis in Chinese”
Tone“professional but accessible,” “readable by Amazon shoppers”
Structure“conclusion first, then analysis,” “highest priority first”

P — Proof

Ask the AI to explain its reasoning or cite evidence — it reduces hallucination.

Example proof requirements:
- "Explain your reasoning"
- "Annotate the basis for each suggestion"
- "If you're unsure about something, say so explicitly"
- "Separate 'data-based conclusions' from 'experience-based conjecture'"

2.3 A complete CRISP example

Scenario: deciding whether to enter a new category

[C - Context]
I'm an Amazon US seller focused on consumer electronics,
annual revenue ~$500K, team of 5.
I'm considering entering the portable projector category.
Current leaders on Amazon US: XGIMI, Anker Nebula, YABER.
My startup budget is about ¥300K.

[R - Role]
You are a cross-border product-sourcing consultant with 10 years'
experience, deeply familiar with consumer electronics on Amazon US.

[I - Instructions]
Run a full market feasibility assessment for portable projectors:
1. Market size and growth trend
2. Competitive landscape (leaders' strengths and weaknesses)
3. Profit-margin estimate
4. Entry barriers (capital, technology, certification)
5. Key risks
6. Go/No-Go recommendation

[S - Specifications]
- Format: a table per dimension + brief analysis
- Language: Chinese
- Scoring: 1–5 per dimension
- End with an overall score and an explicit recommendation (enter / caution / pass)

[P - Proof]
- Mark which points come from public data and which are conjecture
- If a dimension is uncertain, say so
- Explain how the overall score is computed

You don’t label [C][R][I][S][P] in real use — that’s just for teaching. Once fluent, you’ll fold the five elements in naturally.


3. Six Advanced Prompt Techniques

3.1 Chain-of-Thought

Make the AI “think step by step” instead of jumping to an answer. Best for problems requiring reasoning.

Without CoT:

What's this product's margin on Amazon US?
Sourcing cost ¥80, price $29.99, FBA fee $5.50, referral fee 15%

The AI may spit out a number with an opaque, error-prone calculation.

With CoT:

Calculate this product's Amazon US margin step by step:
1. Convert the sourcing cost from CNY to USD (rate 7.2)
2. Compute the Amazon referral fee
3. Sum all costs
4. Compute profit and margin

Data: sourcing cost ¥80, price $29.99, FBA fee $5.50, referral 15%

Why it works: forcing intermediate steps makes every step checkable. If one step is wrong, you see it immediately.

Where to use it:

  • Profit and cost analysis
  • Multi-step market assessments
  • Decisions requiring logic
  • Any analysis where you need to “see the work”

3.2 Few-shot learning

Give the AI a few examples so it learns your desired format and style.

Analyze each competitor's title strategy in this format:

Example:
Title: Anker Soundcore Life Q20 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones
Analysis:
- Brand first (Anker Soundcore) → high brand recognition, so lead with it
- Core selling point (Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling) → technical differentiation
- Category word (Headphones) → guarantees search match
- Strategy: brand + technical selling point + category word

Now analyze these 3 titles the same way:
1. [Competitor A title]
2. [Competitor B title]
3. [Competitor C title]

Why it works: an example is more precise than a description. Rather than 100 words describing the format you want, show one.

Best practices:

  • 1–3 examples are usually enough
  • Cover different cases (positive/negative, simple/complex)
  • The examples’ format is your expected output format

3.3 Role-playing

Have the AI adopt specific personas and analyze from their viewpoints.

Evaluate this product from each of these 3 perspectives:

Persona 1 — the picky consumer:
"I shop on Amazon often, demand high quality, and read the negative
reviews carefully. Does this listing convince me to buy?"

Persona 2 — the competitor's ops manager:
"I run operations at a competitor and see this new product entering.
Is it a threat? How should I respond?"

Persona 3 — the Amazon category manager:
"I'm the Amazon category manager reviewing products in this category.
Does this listing carry any compliance risk? How's its quality score?"

Why it works: multi-persona analysis surfaces problems a single lens misses.

3.4 Structured output

Require a specific output structure — easier to process and compare downstream.

Output the analysis in this JSON format:

{
"product_name": "...",
"market_score": 1-5,
"competition_score": 1-5,
"profit_score": 1-5,
"risk_factors": ["risk 1", "risk 2"],
"recommendation": "enter/caution/pass",
"reasoning": "why"
}

Where to use it:

  • Batch-evaluating many products
  • Data destined for Excel or a database
  • Standardizing analysis format across a team

3.5 Iterative refinement

Don’t expect perfection from one prompt. Treat the AI as a collaborator and refine over multiple turns.

Round 1:
"Write an Amazon title for Bluetooth earbuds"

Round 2:
"Good, but add the keyword 'noise cancelling' and keep it under 150 characters"

Round 3:
"Great. Now give me 3 variants emphasizing:
A. Technical specs (noise reduction dB, battery life)
B. Usage scenarios (commuting, sports, office)
C. Emotional appeal (enjoy music, focus at work)"

Round 4:
"I'll take direction B. Refine it further and add '2026 new model' and 'Type-C fast charging'"

Why it works: complex tasks are hard to specify in one shot. Iteration lets you steer after seeing output.

3.6 Constraint setting

Telling the AI what not to do matters as much as what to do.

Write 5 bullet points for an Amazon listing.

Constraints:
- No hype words ("best," "perfect," "revolutionary")
- No competitor brand names
- No HTML tags
- Each bullet ≤ 200 characters
- No repeated keywords
- No all-caps (except the brand name)

Common constraints (cross-border e-commerce):

Constraint typeExamples
Content“don’t fabricate data,” “no unverified claims”
Format“under X words,” “table, not paragraphs”
Compliance“no medical claims,” “no competitor brands”
Style“no academic tone,” “no Chinglish”
Safety“if unsure, say so instead of guessing”

4. The prompt conventions used in this book

Before the templates, here is the structure every prompt in this book follows. This isn’t formatting fussiness — each block maps to a failure someone actually hit.

4.1 The six blocks

<role>one line: professional identity and point of view</role>

<input_data>
[paste your raw data here]
</input_data>

<task>
1. Numbered list of what to do
2. One action per line — don't pack several into one
</task>

<data_discipline>
- Use only numbers that appear in <input_data>. If it isn't there, write "missing" — do not estimate
- If you need something I didn't provide, ask me before assuming
- Distinguish "derived from input data" from "inferred from general knowledge"; label the latter
</data_discipline>

<output_format>
Name the table columns or JSON fields — don't leave the shape to the model
</output_format>

<self_check>
Verify before delivering: (1) ... (2) ... (3) ...
</self_check>

4.2 Why each block earns its place

The <input_data> boundary is the easiest to skip and the most directly consequential. When you paste 500 rows of keyword data or 200 reviews, without a boundary marker any sentence in that data reading “ignore the above instructions” gets executed — a competitor can poison your analysis with one line in a review. With explicit open/close tags, the model knows the content inside is material to process, not commands to follow.

<data_discipline> is the most important block here, and the one this book previously lacked. Ask a language model “roughly what’s the monthly sales volume in this category” and it will almost always hand you a plausible-looking number — one it does not actually know. Sourcing, restocking, and pricing decisions have real money behind them; one fabricated volume figure can leave you sitting on tens of thousands in inventory. So every prompt in this book that touches numbers enforces: if it isn’t in the input, say so; never estimate; and if you must infer, label it.

<self_check> moves acceptance criteria upstream. Rather than checking the output against your rules afterward, state them in the prompt — “title must be 200 characters or fewer”, “search_terms must not repeat the bullets” — and let the model screen its own work first. In practice this cuts rework noticeably.

4.3 The data-discipline block, ready to paste

This is the most reused snippet in the book. Paste it into any prompt involving numbers, forecasts, or recommendations:

<data_discipline>
- Use only the data I provide. Any number I did not give you is "missing" — do not estimate it and do not draw on industry averages from memory
- If you lack the basis for a judgment, list the data you still need and stop to ask me. Do not lead with a conclusion
- Tag every conclusion with its source: [input data] or [model inference]
- Any claim about money, volume, or ranking must trace back to a specific line of what I gave you
</data_discipline>

4.4 Label the capability tier

Every prompt in this book notes a suggested capability tier (T1 frontier / T2 workhorse / T3 fast); see the model matrix. The rule of thumb: multi-step reasoning and genuine trade-offs go to T1; bulk generation and format conversion go to T2/T3. Hand a complex prompt to a low tier and the usual symptom is that it completes only the first two of your numbered tasks.


5. From Prompt to Skill: writing for the agent era

The four sections above cover writing a good prompt. But in 2026 what you actually ship is often not a block of text pasted into a chat box — it’s an instruction that gets invoked repeatedly. This section covers how the same content differs across three delivery forms, and how to migrate this book’s 300-plus prompts into them.

Related resources: Skills Library the skill files collected in this repo · AI IDE Skills Collection rules and steering files for Cursor / Kiro / Claude Code

5.1 Three delivery forms

FormWhat it looks likeWho runs itWhen to choose it
ConversationalA block of text pasted into ChatGPT/ClaudeA human, manuallyOne-off tasks, exploration, results you’ll judge on the spot
System promptFixed in the system slot of an API callYour code, in bulkThe same task run hundreds or thousands of times over uniform input
Skill fileA standalone file with trigger conditions; the agent decides when to use itThe agent, autonomouslyThe task is one step in a flow and the agent must decide whether to do it

The key realization: the content barely changes; the location and the boundaries do. The six blocks from §4 — role, input data, task, data discipline, output format, self-check — exist in all three forms. What differs:

  • Conversational: all six live in one block of text, and you paste the data by hand
  • System prompt: role/task/data-discipline/output-format are fixed in the system slot; input data is passed in by code each call
  • Skill file: add a layer describing when I should be used, plus a declaration of what tools I need

5.2 The same task in three forms

Take listing generation from A2.

Conversational (how most prompts in this book currently look):

<role>Amazon listing expert</role>
<keyword_data>[paste your Helium 10 export here]</keyword_data>
<task>Generate title, bullets, description, Search Terms</task>
<data_discipline>Use only the keywords above; don't fill gaps from memory</data_discipline>

System prompt (when you need to run 500 SKUs):

SYSTEM = """<role>Amazon listing expert</role>
<task>…</task>
<data_discipline>…</data_discipline>
<output_format>JSON: {title, bullets[5], description, search_terms[5]}</output_format>"""

# Keyword data is no longer pasted by hand — it's passed in per call
for sku in skus:
    call(system=SYSTEM, user=f"<keyword_data>{sku.keywords}</keyword_data>")

Two things changed here: output must become JSON (otherwise downstream can’t use it), and keyword data goes from hand-pasted to program-read. That is what “eliminating the human data shuttle” concretely means.

Skill file (the agent decides when to generate a listing):

---
name: listing-generator
description: Use when a new SKU needs an Amazon listing generated or rewritten.
  Requires keyword data (with monthly volume) and product information to work.
---

<role>Amazon listing expert</role>

<preflight_check>
Before running, confirm you have: (1) keyword data (10+ terms with volume),
(2) product information (including selling points).
If either is missing, do not generate — ask the user for it.
</preflight_check>

<task>…</task>
<data_discipline>…</data_discipline>
<output_format>…</output_format>
<human_confirmation_required>Output is not published directly — wait for human review</human_confirmation_required>

Three things are new: description determines when the agent thinks to use it, preflight check prevents running on incomplete data, and human confirmation gates the irreversible action.

5.3 Agents make data discipline more important, not less

This deserves its own section because intuition runs the other way.

In conversation, the model invents a sales figure, you read it, you may get suspicious, you discard it — the cost is your time.

In agent mode, that same invented figure gets acted on: bids adjusted, a support email sent, a restock order submitted. You may not notice until the invoice or the inventory tells you. The blast radius goes from “one bad read” to “a chain of bad actions.”

So when you migrate any prompt in this book into a skill file, carry the <data_discipline> block over verbatim, and add one more rule:

<on_failure>
If data is insufficient or validation fails, stop and report. Do not continue
downstream actions using an assumed value.
</on_failure>

In conversation, a model that “guesses and keeps talking” costs you a wasted read. In agent mode it will carry that guess all the way through execution.

5.4 Which tasks belong to an agent, and which don’t

The test isn’t how complex the task is — it’s whether a mistake can be taken back.

PropertySafe for autonomous agentRequires a human gate
ReversibilityFixable (drafts, labeling, classification)Irreversible (delisting, refunds, sent emails, submitted orders)
ExposureStays internalVisible to customers or the platform
MoneyNo funds involvedTouches funds or inventory commitments
FrequencyHigh-volume, repetitiveInfrequent, different every time

A practical starting order: let the agent do read-only work first (pull data, analyze, draft), run it for a week or two until you have a real feel for its judgment, then open up write access one item at a time. People who do it the other way round usually hit an incident needing manual cleanup in week one.

5.5 Migration checklist for this book’s prompts

When converting any prompt here into an agent skill, work down this list:

  • Keep <data_discipline> verbatim, and add the “stop on failure” rule
  • Change <output_format> to something machine-parseable (JSON/table) — no prose
  • Add a description: state when to use it and what data it needs first
  • Add a preflight check: on incomplete data, ask rather than generate
  • Identify irreversible actions and gate every one on human confirmation
  • Name the data source: where does the agent read the data this prompt originally asked you to paste? No data source means don’t agentify it yet

That last item is the easiest to skip and it decides whether agentifying actually saves work or just moves the manual step somewhere else. See A14 Agentifying Operations.


6. Cross-Border E-Commerce Prompt Template Library (20+)

Related: A2 Listing Optimization for listing prompt templates in depth

6.1 Product research & market analysis (5)

Template 1: competitor review pain-point extraction

Role: senior Amazon product manager
Input: [paste 50+ one-to-three-star reviews]
Task: extract the top 5 pain points, ranked by frequency
Output: table (pain point | frequency | representative quote | improvement | difficulty)

Template 2: 5-dimension market feasibility

Role: cross-border sourcing consultant
Input: product name, target market, competitor info
Task: score demand/competition/profit/supply chain/compliance (1–5 each)
Output: score table + overall recommendation (enter/caution/pass)

Template 3: keyword demand clustering

Role: Amazon SEO expert
Input: [paste 100+ keywords]
Task: cluster by purchase intent, spot underserved demand
Output: cluster table (cluster | keywords | volume | competition | product opportunity)

Template 4: trend judgment

Role: e-commerce trend analyst
Input: category name + Google Trends data + BSR data
Task: judge whether the category is rising / plateaued / declining
Output: judgment + evidence + entry-timing advice

Template 5: supplier comparison

Role: procurement manager
Input: 3 suppliers' quotes, MOQs, lead times, credentials
Task: multi-dimension comparison
Output: comparison table + ranked recommendation + negotiation strategy

6.2 Listings & content (5)

Template 6: full listing generation

Role: Amazon listing optimization expert
Input: product info, selling points, keyword list
Task: generate title + 5 bullets + description + Search Terms
Constraints: title ≤ 200 characters, keywords woven in naturally

Template 7: multilingual localization

Role: [target language] localization expert
Input: English listing
Task: translate + localize (swap keywords, reorder selling points)
Output: localized listing + notes on every adaptation

Template 8: A+ content planning

Role: Amazon A+ Content designer
Input: product info, brand story, competitor A+ screenshots
Task: plan A+ module layout and copy
Output: module order + title/copy/image suggestion per module

Template 9: competitor listing breakdown

Role: competitive analyst
Input: 3 competitors' complete listings
Task: contrast strategies, find differentiation openings
Output: strategy comparison + keyword coverage comparison + differentiation advice

Template 10: selling-point distillation

Role: brand marketing expert
Input: product specs, positive reviews, competitor weaknesses
Task: distill 3 core selling points + a one-line USP
Output: selling points + supporting evidence + usage scenarios

6.3 Advertising & marketing (4)

Related: A3 Advertising Optimization for ad-analysis templates in depth

Template 11: search term report analysis

Role: Amazon PPC expert
Input: search term report (past 30 days)
Task: find high-converting terms, waste terms, negative suggestions
Output: top 10 converters + top 10 waste + negatives list + budget advice

Template 12: ad copy A/B variants

Role: ad copywriter
Input: product description, core selling point
Task: generate headlines in 5 styles (feature/scenario/emotion/data/problem-solving)
Output: 5 headlines + expected impact + audience fit

Template 13: promotion planning

Role: e-commerce promotion strategist
Input: product info, sales history, promo budget
Task: build a BFCM/Prime Day promotion plan
Output: promo calendar + discount strategy + ad support plan + expected ROI

Template 14: brand story writing

Role: brand storyteller
Input: brand background, founding story, core values
Task: write the Amazon Brand Story content
Output: brand story copy (200–300 words) + image suggestions

6.4 Customer service & after-sales (3)

Template 15: bulk negative-review analysis

Role: product quality analyst
Input: last 60 days of 1–3 star reviews
Task: classify by type, compute frequencies, propose fixes
Output: classification table + frequency share + short-term response + long-term fix + priority

Template 16: reply template generation

Role: Amazon customer-service expert
Input: common question types
Task: generate multilingual reply templates
Output: 3 variants per question (formal/friendly/brief) × languages

Template 17: appeal letter (Plan of Action)

Role: Amazon account appeal expert
Input: the violation notice
Task: write the Plan of Action
Output: Root Cause + Immediate Actions + Preventive Measures

6.5 Operations management (4)

Template 18: restock decision analysis

Role: inventory management expert
Input: 90 days of sales, current stock, supplier lead time
Task: compute safety stock and restock advice
Output: safety stock + reorder timing + order quantity + risk notes

Template 19: competitor monitoring weekly

Role: competitive intelligence analyst
Input: competitors' price/review/BSR changes
Task: analyze their strategic moves and how to respond
Output: change summary + strategy analysis + response advice

Template 20: daily/weekly ops report

Role: operations data analyst
Input: the day's/week's sales, ads, inventory data
Task: generate a structured ops report
Output: KPI summary + anomaly flags + action suggestions

Template 21: multi-market compliance comparison

Role: cross-border compliance consultant
Input: product type, target market list
Task: generate a compliance-requirement comparison per market
Output: comparison table + certification cost estimate + common pitfalls

7. Common Mistakes & Fixes

7.1 The ten prompt mistakes

#MistakeExampleFixFixed version
1Too vague“Analyze the market”add product, market, dimensions“Analyze the competitive landscape for Bluetooth earbuds on Amazon US”
2No role“Write a title”add a role“You are an Amazon listing expert; write a title”
3No format spec“Give me advice”specify format“Give 5 suggestions as a numbered list, ≤50 words each”
4Too much at once“Analyze the market, write the listing, plan the ads”split into promptsanalyze first, then write the listing from the analysis
5Analysis without data“What’s this category’s monthly volume?”provide data to analyze“Here’s the Helium 10 export — analyze…”
6Expecting live info“What’s the BSR right now?”acknowledge the limits“Assume BSR is 50–100; analyze…”
7No constraints“Write a product description”add length/style/taboo constraints“≤200 words, no hype, emphasize practicality”
8Sloppy language mixingChinese prompt wanting English outputstate language explicitly“Listing in English; analysis in Chinese”
9Not iteratinggive up after one bad outputgive feedback“Title’s too long — cut to under 150 characters”
10Not saving good promptsrewrite from scratch each timebuild a template librarystore proven prompts in a shared team doc

7.2 A repair walkthrough: from bad to good

Original prompt (bad):

Take a look at this product for me

Diagnosis:

  • No role
  • No context (which product? which market?)
  • “Take a look” is vague (evaluate on which dimensions?)
  • No output format
  • No proof requirement

First improvement:

You are a cross-border sourcing consultant.
Assess the market outlook for a "portable neck fan" on Amazon US.
Analyze demand, competition, and profit.

Second improvement (full CRISP):

[Role] You are a sourcing consultant with 10 years' experience,
deeply familiar with consumer electronics on Amazon US.

[Context] I'm an Amazon seller doing $200K/year with a team of 3
and a launch budget of ¥150K. I'm considering the portable neck-fan
category. Current leaders: JISULIFE (BSR #1, 4.3 stars, 12,000+
reviews) and TORRAS (BSR #3, 4.4 stars, 8,000+ reviews).

[Task] Run a full market feasibility assessment:
1. Demand (search trends, seasonality, growth potential)
2. Competition (leaders' moats, difficulty for new entrants)
3. Profit (estimate cost structure and margin)
4. Risk (seasonality, patents, compliance)
5. Overall recommendation (Go/No-Go + entry strategy if Go)

[Format] Table per dimension + 1–5 score + brief analysis.
End with an overall score and an explicit recommendation.

[Proof] Mark what's based on public information vs. your conjecture.
If a dimension is uncertain, say so.

7.3 Prompt differences across models

ModelPrompt preferenceNotes
ChatGPTaccepts any format; responds well to natural languagelong prompts work well; give plenty of context
Claude (Sonnet/Opus)prefers structure; XML tags work greatorganize with <context> <instructions> etc.
Geminiresponds well to concise promptsthe huge context window is the edge — load in lots of reference material
DeepSeekstrong with Chinese promptsgreat value for high-volume calls

Claude-specific technique — XML tags:

<context>
I'm an Amazon US seller focused on consumer electronics.
</context>

<task>
Analyze the pain points in the competitor reviews below.
</task>

<format>
Table with: pain point, frequency, representative quote, improvement.
</format>

<reviews>
[Paste the reviews here]
</reviews>

8. Advanced: From Prompt Engineering to Context Engineering

Related: D6 Southeast Asia AI Guide for multilingual prompt applications

8.1 The 2026 shift: context engineering

In mid-2025, Andrej Karpathy (formerly OpenAI) framed it memorably: the LLM is like a CPU, the context window is like RAM, and you are the operating system responsible for loading the right information.

Prompt engineering is evolving into context engineering — not just writing one good prompt, but architecting the entire information input.

Source: Context Engineering Guide 2026

Prompt engineering (2023–2024):
Focus: how to write a good instruction
Core skills: CRISP, CoT, few-shot
Fits: single conversations, simple tasks

Context engineering (2025–2026):
Focus: how to architect the whole information input
Core skills: information curation, context management, tool orchestration
New questions:
Which information goes into context? (more isn't better)
How is it prioritized and organized?
How do tools fetch information dynamically?
How is multi-turn context managed?
Fits: complex workflows, agents, long-running projects

8.2 Context engineering in practice

Principle 1: layer the information

Layer 1 — system instructions (always present):
role definition, output specs, constraints

Layer 2 — task context (loaded as needed):
the current task's background and data

Layer 3 — reference material (retrieved dynamically):
relevant document snippets via RAG

Layer 4 — conversation history (managed automatically):
prior turns (may need summarization/compression)

Principle 2: manage the context budget

Every model’s window is finite. Manage context like an ad budget:

Content typePriorityBudget share
System instructions & rolehighest5–10%
Core data for the current taskhigh40–50%
Reference material & examplesmedium20–30%
Conversation historylow10–20%

Principle 3: output contracts

The 2026 best practice is to design the prompt as a “contract”:

Output contract = {
format: table/JSON/Markdown
length: max X words
tone: professional/friendly/brief
required sections: [list]
behavior when unsure: explicitly mark "uncertain"
error handling: if input data is insufficient, ask rather than guess
}

Source: Prompt Engineering Best Practices 2026


9. Learning Resources

9.1 Essential reading

ResourceSourceWhy
OpenAI Prompt Engineering GuideOpenAIthe official best practices — most authoritative
Anthropic Prompt Engineering GuideAnthropicClaude-specific techniques, XML tag usage
ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for DevelopersDeepLearning.AIfree 1.5 h hands-on course
12 Advanced Prompt Engineering TechniquesAI Prompt Librarya current roundup of advanced techniques

9.2 Practice plan

StageDoTime
Week 1rewrite your existing prompts with CRISP15 min/day
Week 2try the 6 advanced techniques, keep what fits20 min/day
Week 3build a personal template library (10+ prompts)one 2 h block
Ongoingafter each AI session, reflect on how the prompt could improve2 min each

When this doesn’t work

  • You want deterministic output, not good output. Pulling an invoice total, rewriting SKU codes by a fixed rule — a regex or a few lines of code is steadier than a prompt. Prompts are good at ambiguous input, not at replacing deterministic logic. The same prompt run twice does not produce identical text, and where you need byte-for-byte reproducibility that is a defect, not a feature.
  • The model simply does not know. Your stock levels, last week’s search-term report, a policy one platform changed three days ago — no amount of prompt craft conjures those. What you need is RAG or pasting the data in (see F3). Polishing the wording only makes the invention more convincing.
  • The task runs hundreds or thousands of times. Hand-tuning a single prompt does not pay off at that volume and does not hold up. Move to a template with a fixed input format plus sampled human review, or to a skill file (§5 of this chapter). The test is simple: if you do not intend to read every output, do not expect prompt wording to guarantee quality.
  • You cannot afford the failure. Legal letters that go out, customs declarations, compensation promised to a customer — these are not cases where a good enough prompt clears the bar. A human review step is required. A data-discipline block stops the model inventing numbers; it does not stop it misreading your intent somewhere you did not think to look.

10. Completion Checklist

  • Can write structured prompts with the CRISP framework
  • Have used at least 3 advanced techniques (CoT, few-shot, role-playing, …)
  • Built a personal library of 10+ go-to prompts
  • Can spot and fix the common prompt mistakes
  • Understand context engineering’s concepts and principles

Complete all of the above and you’ve mastered the core skill of communicating with AI. Next: F3 Knowledge & RAG — teaching AI to understand your private data.