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Prompt Optimization: How to Write Prompts That Produce Predictable, Reliable Outputs

Prompt Optimization is the art and science of crafting prompts to get the best, most reliable outputs from large language models. If you want consistent production behavior, invest in Prompt Optimization. Prompt Optimization reduces hallucination, improves factuality, and helps prevent prompt injection when paired with AI guardrails.

Start Prompt Optimization with a template-based approach. Convert ad-hoc prompts into structured templates with placeholders for variable data. Measure performance: use the same test set and compare outputs before and after Prompt Optimization. Keep the prompt explicit about goals, required format, and constraints. During Prompt Optimization, enforce output formats (JSON, CSV, bullet lists) so downstream parsing is predictable.

In Prompt Optimization include fallback instructions and refusal rules to handle unsafe or unsupported queries. Test your Prompt Optimization against adversarial prompts to detect prompt injection vulnerabilities. Combine Prompt Optimization with retrieval augmentation: include relevant retrieved docs in the prompt and design the prompt so the model prefers those sources. Continuous Prompt Optimization means that prompts are versioned and tested automatically.

Use human feedback loops in Prompt Optimization: gather user-corrected outputs, then refine templates. Automate scoring so that Prompt Optimization can be measured (score by exact-match, semantic similarity, or human rating). Also consider token cost: Prompt Optimization should balance quality and costshorter, clearer prompts often win.

Prompt Optimization is a repeatable engineering discipline: template → test → measure → refine → version. Good Prompt Optimization directly improves LLM evaluation results and reduces the need for heavier modifications like model fine-tuning.

Link: https://github.com/future-agi/ai-evaluation

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