What is Prompt engineering?
The short answer
Prompt engineering is the practice of writing and structuring instructions to AI models so they produce accurate, useful and consistent results.
Prompt engineering, explained
For code, the most effective techniques are giving the model the relevant files, stating acceptance criteria and asking it to test its own work.
Questions people ask about Prompt engineering
What is Prompt engineering?
Prompt engineering is the practice of writing and structuring instructions to AI models so they produce accurate, useful and consistent results.
Related terms
A prompt is the instruction you give an AI model: the request, the context and any constraints that shape what it produces.
System promptA system prompt is the standing instruction that sets an AI's role, rules and style for a whole conversation, before any user message.
Coding agentA coding agent is an AI that works in a real codebase: it reads files, writes and edits code, runs builds and tests, and fixes what fails.
Vibe codingVibe coding is building software by describing what you want to an AI in plain language and iterating on what it produces, rather than writing the code line by line yourself.
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