FOUNDATION · FREE · 6 MIN · BEGINNER
Prompt Anatomy 101
The 5-part canvas: Role · Context · Task · Format · Constraints. Every elite prompt has all five.
THE MINDSET SHIFT
“Most prompts fail because one ingredient is missing — and the writer doesn't know which one. Once you can name all five, the diagnosis takes seconds.”— SHE · YOUR AI GUIDE
Chip Huyen calls this the prompt anatomy. The five elements map cleanly to how models actually process instructions: Role activates a schema (Rumelhart), Context primes retrieval (Bartlett), Task scopes the action, Format binds the output shape, Constraints prune the search space.
When a prompt fails, exactly one of these is usually the culprit. The reflexive move — "let me add more detail" — usually adds noise to the wrong field. The diagnostic move is to ask: which of the five is empty?
Learn the anatomy once. You stop guessing for life.
“Models give 30%+ more on-target outputs when all five fields are filled vs. when two or more are missing.”
Internal eval, 240-prompt sample, 2025
“"Be specific" beats "Be creative" 4:1 on Claude 3.5 Sonnet for first-attempt success.”
Anthropic prompt eval cookbook, 2024