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Appendix 1: Prompt Engineering Cheatsheets

A1.1 Quick Prompt Anatomy Cheatsheet​

Role -> Objective -> Context -> Constraints -> Output Format -> Quality Checks

Use this sequence as the default prompt skeleton.

A1.2 CO-STAR Cheatsheet​

C: Context
O: Objective
S: Style
T: Tone
A: Audience
R: Response

Mini template:

Context: ...
Objective: ...
Style: ...
Tone: ...
Audience: ...
Response: ...

A1.3 Zero-Shot vs Few-Shot Decision Cheatsheet​

SituationUse
Simple task, clear outputZero-shot
Nuanced style neededFew-shot
Strict schema consistency requiredFew-shot
Cost-sensitive high-volume requestsZero-shot first, then escalate if needed

A1.4 Temperature Cheatsheet​

TemperatureBest Use
0.0-0.3Deterministic, extraction, compliance
0.4-0.7General business writing
0.8+Ideation, creative brainstorming

Rule: higher temperature increases diversity and drift risk.

A1.5 Context Window Management Cheatsheet​

  • Keep only relevant context.
  • Summarize long histories.
  • Prioritize high-value instructions.
  • Reserve tokens for output.
  • Remove duplicated constraints.

A1.6 Hallucination Reduction Cheatsheet​

  • Ask for evidence from provided context only.
  • Require "unknown" for missing facts.
  • Separate observation vs inference.
  • Add self-check criteria before final output.
  • Use schema outputs for factual tasks.

A1.7 Prompt Evaluation Cheatsheet​

Score each output (0-2):

  • Task completion
  • Accuracy
  • Constraint adherence
  • Format compliance
  • Clarity

Total: /10

Use threshold:

  • 8-10: production-ready
  • 6-7: revise before use
  • <=5: redesign prompt

A1.8 Reusable Prompt Snippets​

Clarifying Questions First​

If required information is missing, ask up to 3 clarifying questions before answering.

Strict JSON Output​

Return valid JSON only. Do not include markdown or commentary.

Constraint Check​

Before final answer, verify all constraints are satisfied. If not, revise once.

Confidence Labels​

For each claim, include confidence: high, medium, or low.

A1.9 Agent Prompting Cheatsheet​

  • Define tool-call policy
  • Define retry and failure handling
  • Limit loop iterations
  • Add human escalation point
  • Validate output before delivery

A1.10 Personal Workflow Cheatsheet​

Daily practice loop:

  1. Write one prompt
  2. Test on 5 inputs
  3. Score quality
  4. Improve prompt
  5. Store as versioned template

Consistency beats complexity.