Prompt Engineering Guide

Master the art of writing effective prompts to get the best results from our AI-powered platform.

What is Prompt Engineering?

Prompt engineering is the practice of crafting clear, specific, and effective instructions for AI systems. Well-written prompts lead to better, more accurate results and help you build applications more efficiently.

Core Principles

1. Be Specific and Clear

Good Example:

"Create a contact form with fields for name, email, phone number, and message. 
Include validation for required fields and style it with a modern design."

Poor Example:

"Make a form"

2. Provide Context

Give the AI enough context to understand your requirements:

"I'm building a restaurant website. Create a menu page that displays dishes 
with prices, descriptions, and dietary information (vegetarian, gluten-free)."

3. Specify the Output Format

Tell the AI exactly how you want the result structured:

"Generate a JSON schema for a user profile with fields: id, username, email, 
profile_picture, bio, and created_at timestamp."

Prompt Patterns

Application Development

"Build a [type of app] that [main functionality]. 
Include [specific features] and make sure it's [design requirements]."

Component Creation

"Create a [component type] component that [functionality]. 
Use [styling framework] and make it [responsive/accessible/modern]."

Data Structure

"Design a database schema for [business domain] with tables for [entities]. 
Include relationships and constraints for [specific requirements]."

Advanced Techniques

Chain of Thought

Break complex requests into steps:

"To build an e-commerce site:
First, create the product catalog structure
Then, add shopping cart functionality
Finally, implement checkout process"

Few-Shot Learning

Provide examples of what you want:

"Create a button component similar to this:
- Primary button: blue background, white text
- Secondary button: white background, blue border
- Danger button: red background, white text"

Start broad and refine:

"First, create a basic user authentication system.
Then, add password reset functionality.
Finally, implement two-factor authentication."

Common Use Cases

Building User Interfaces

"Design a dashboard layout with:
- Header with navigation menu
- Sidebar with quick actions
- Main content area for data display
- Footer with links and copyright"

Database Design

"Create a normalized database for an online bookstore with tables for:
- Books (title, author, ISBN, price, category)
- Authors (name, bio, birth_date)
- Categories (name, description)
- Orders (user_id, order_date, total_amount)"

Best Practices

Do’s

✅ Use clear, descriptive language
✅ Provide specific requirements
✅ Include examples when helpful
✅ Break complex requests into parts
✅ Specify output format

Don’ts

❌ Use vague or ambiguous terms
❌ Assume the AI knows your context
❌ Make requests too broad
❌ Forget to specify constraints
❌ Use technical jargon without explanation

Troubleshooting

If Results Are Too Generic

Add more specific requirements
Include examples of what you want
Specify the target audience or use case

If Results Are Too Complex

Simplify your request
Break it into smaller parts
Focus on core functionality first

If Results Are Off-Target

Clarify your requirements
Provide more context
Use the iterative refinement approach

Practice Examples

Try these prompts to improve your skills:

Simple Component: “Create a loading spinner component with a rotating animation”
Form Builder: “Build a multi-step registration form with progress indicator”
Data Display: “Design a table component for displaying user data with sorting and filtering”
Navigation: “Create a responsive navigation menu with dropdown submenus”

Next Steps

Now that you understand prompt engineering basics:

Practice with simple requests first
Gradually increase complexity
Learn from the AI’s responses
Refine your prompts based on results

Ready to start building? Check out our quickstart guide to put these techniques into practice!