# Prompt Engineering

> Prompt engineering knowledge base — technique taxonomy with decision tree, prompt template patterns and formatting conventions, OWASP LLM Top 10 security checklist, eval frameworks and testing guide, context engineering, structured output contracts, multi-agent orchestration patterns, cost optimization. Use when designing prompts, reviewing prompt quality, building AI features, creating AI assets…

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-alex-voloshin-dev-ai-skills-prompt-engineering`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [alex-voloshin-dev](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/alex-voloshin-dev)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [alex-voloshin-dev](https://github.com/alex-voloshin-dev)
- **Source:** https://github.com/alex-voloshin-dev/ai-skills/tree/main/.agents/skills/prompt-engineering
- **Website:** https://voloshin.net

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-alex-voloshin-dev-ai-skills-prompt-engineering
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Prompt Engineering

Comprehensive prompt engineering knowledge base. Provides actionable patterns, checklists, and guides for designing, securing, evaluating, and optimizing LLM prompts and agent systems.

## When to Use

- Designing or reviewing prompt templates (system, developer, user prompts)
- Building tool calling schemas and structured output contracts
- Evaluating prompt quality — accuracy, safety, cost, latency
- Auditing LLM security against OWASP LLM Top 10
- Designing multi-agent orchestration and handoff protocols
- Optimizing prompt cost and latency
- Creating or reviewing Codex AI assets (rules, workflows, skills — all are prompts)
- Setting up prompt versioning and observability

## When NOT to Use

- Implementing backend/frontend code (use `software-engineer` role + stack-specific role)
- Infrastructure and deployment (use `devops-engineer` role)
- Writing code tests (use `qa-engineer` role + `test-strategy` skill)
- Content writing (use `content-writer` role)
- Context pipeline design, memory engineering, agent harness, RAG architecture, multi-agent orchestration, production AI checklists → use `context-engineering` skill

## Key Concepts

### Prompt as System

A prompt is not a string — it is a **system** composed of:
1. **Instruction hierarchy**: System prompt > Developer prompt > User prompt > Retrieved content
2. **Context assembly**: What enters the context window, in what order, with what priority
3. **Output contract**: Schema, format, constraints, error handling, fallback behavior
4. **Tool interface**: Available tools, their schemas, permissions, composition patterns
5. **Guard rails**: Safety filters, refusal policies, output validators
6. **Versioning**: Immutable versions, deployment tags, audit trail

### Core Principles

1. **Eval-first**: Define how to measure before changing anything
2. **Simplest technique**: Zero-shot → few-shot → CoT → chaining. Escalate only when simpler fails
3. **Explicit over implicit**: Spell out constraints, output format, edge cases. Never assume the model "knows"
4. **Separation of concerns**: Instructions vs data vs examples — always delimited
5. **Grounding**: Prefer citations and verifiable data over unanchored claims
6. **Least privilege**: Minimal tool permissions per agent. HITL for high-impact actions
7. **Cost awareness**: Every token costs money and time. Compress, cache, route

## Resource Files

| File | Contents |
|---|---|
| `technique-guide.md` | Technique selector overview and reading map |
| `technique-guide-core.md` | Zero-shot, few-shot, CoT, self-consistency, constrained generation |
| `technique-guide-agentic.md` | ToT, ReAct, chaining, reflection, RAG, meta-prompting, provider guidance |
| `prompt-template-patterns.md` | Prompt structure overview and pattern index |
| `prompt-template-foundations.md` | Delimiters, system prompt architecture, few-shot formatting, CoT formatting |
| `prompt-template-contracts.md` | Output schemas, tool schemas, prompt registry, provider-specific adaptations |
| `security-checklist.md` | OWASP LLM Top 10 mapped to prompt-level mitigations with checklist |
| `eval-and-testing-guide.md` | Eval workflow overview and decision map |
| `eval-datasets-and-graders.md` | Dataset curation, grader types, grader selection |
| `eval-deployment-and-monitoring.md` | Regression gates, A/B testing, deployment rollout, monitoring |

## Integration

- **Follows rules**: `prompt-engineer` role (prompt system architecture, security, eval-first quality)
- **Used by workflows**: `ai-skills` skill (all assets are prompts), `feature-dev` skill (AI features), `code-review` skill (prompt quality review)
- **Companion skills**: `context-engineering` skill (context pipeline design, memory engineering, agent harness, RAG architecture, multi-agent orchestration, production checklists), `asset-validation` skill (AI asset format validation), `code-review` skill (review checklists)
- **Collaborates with roles**: `software-engineer` role (prompt integration), `qa-engineer` role (prompt regression tests), `product-manager` role (success metrics)

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [alex-voloshin-dev](https://github.com/alex-voloshin-dev)
- **Source:** [alex-voloshin-dev/ai-skills](https://github.com/alex-voloshin-dev/ai-skills)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://voloshin.net

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-alex-voloshin-dev-ai-skills-prompt-engineering
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/alex-voloshin-dev
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.