PromptingIntermediate

Provide Few-Shot Examples

Giving 2–3 examples of input → output pairs is the fastest way to calibrate Claude's style, tone, and format without lengthy explanations.

few-shotexamplescalibration

The Strategy

Few-shot prompting is more reliable than lengthy instructions for style calibration. The model "pattern matches" against your examples rather than interpreting abstract rules.

prompt.txt

<task>
Write a Git commit message for the diff below.
Follow the examples exactly.
</task>

<examples>
<example>
<diff>Added null check before user.profile access</diff>
<commit>fix(auth): guard against null user profile on login</commit>
</example>
<example>
<diff>Extracted color tokens into design-tokens.ts</diff>
<commit>refactor(design): centralize color tokens into dedicated file</commit>
</example>
</examples>

<diff>
[Your diff here]
</diff>

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PromptingBeginner

Specify Output Format Explicitly

Tell Claude exactly what structure you want: JSON, Markdown, TypeScript types, numbered lists—avoid post-processing by baking format into the prompt.

jsonformatstructured-output

View snippet

PromptingBeginner

Use XML Tags for Structure

Claude is specifically trained to recognize and parse XML tags to separate instructions from content. Wrapping your prompt in named sections removes ambiguity.

xmlstructureclarity

View snippet