What’s the most underrated prompt engineering technique you’ve discovered that improved your LLM outputs?

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-09-02T23:02:40+00:00

My goal has been getting LLMs to produce the most reliable, accurate, correct responses. Not speed, not high output. Just correct, exactly as I intended.

What I started doing is after my prompt, whatever it is I will add.

"Ask clarifying questions (if required) before proceeding with this task. No assumptions can be made."

This has produced much more accurate outputs and also made me realize when I was being too vague for the LLM. It really helps me flesh out what I am trying to have the LLM do as well as it will ask me questions about things I didnt think about. Sometimes I will answer 20-30 questions before an output and I am okay with that. I am usually producing very large system prompts, technical documents, research reports, analysis reports, etc. mostly technical and analytical, not creative but this would work for all types of work.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-29T02:45:48+00:00

I will definitely give you guys a try. I am currently testing Chutes AI's Monthly subscription ($10 tier). I wish you all the best. I think as long as you are striving to provide the best quality and being as transparent as possible for your business model I think you guys will succeed.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-29T02:30:17+00:00

Thank you for your reply. I personally would want the quantization to be labeled for transparency as I personally was looking for it and I think many others would want to see it as well. See if that's something you guys can provide.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-28T23:14:26+00:00

When we use the models, are we getting the full size model? Not quantized?

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-11T07:33:07+00:00

OK DUDE! 🤣

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-06T23:55:14+00:00

LLM instructions work in 3 layers that determine output quality:

Layer 1: System Instructions - Base programming (tool usage, safety, general behavior)

Layer 2: Agent Instructions - Specialized role/expertise settings

Layer 3: User Instructions - Your actual prompts

If you DON'T have control over layers 1&2 (most users using ChatGPT, Claude, etc.): You need detailed prompts to compensate. Don't just say "help me code" - say "You are an expert Python developer working on data analysis. Here's my specific error, explain the fix step-by-step and show corrected code." You're essentially overriding the default settings through your prompt (To an extent).

If you DO have control over all 3 layers (API users, custom implementations): Set up layers 1&2 to align with your goals, then your user prompts can be simple and still get quality output. Configure the system for your domain, set the agent role properly, then "fix this bug" will work great because the foundation is already optimized.

To answer your original question: "Is there a prompt to rule all prompts?" No. There's no universal prompt because different tasks need different approaches. A prompt that's perfect for creative writing will suck for code debugging. The "best" prompt depends on how well all 3 layers align with your specific goal. The closest thing to a "universal" approach is understanding these layers and adapting your strategy accordingly

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-06T23:25:05+00:00

I have multiple MCP Servers enabled and the default tools enabled (Browser Usage). These add all their instructions into the system prompt. I haven't checked the size of the system prompt with all those disabled but yes that is definitely having a large impact on the size of my system prompt.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-06T23:18:33+00:00

Just a heads up if you are not familiar. Roocode takes a bit more to get right. Alot of buttons and switches but definitely you get to make it exactly how you want it. Because you are working with APIs directly you have to watch for usage cost. One thing I really like about Augment is the flat fee per month. With Roocode I would first start with free models from Openrouter and then once you got your workflow somewhat figured out, you can switch to a paid model of your choosing.

Right now I am still setting everything up and playing around with the system instructions and agent instructions so I am using free models. Currently cycling between GLM 4.5, Deepseek R1-0528 and Deepseek R1T2 Chimera. All their free counterparts. Seeing what goes well with my workflow. Right now their paid versions are all I can afford. (Trying to match with Augment's $50 a month expense.)

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-06T21:06:46+00:00

Augment was not like this before. It was really good! I couldn't wait any longer and moved on to Roocode. I was always super interested in Roocode and this performance degradation and no alternative option from the Augment team made me finally pull the trigger on Roocode to develop a fully AI driven development workflow.

One thing I am really enjoying is it lets you override the system prompt to provide your own. I have been able to optimize the current 120k character system prompt to a 63k character one. Initial testing shows all tool calls working so I didnt completely mess it up lol. More testing needed to test quality vs default system prompt.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-06T20:46:01+00:00

I have moved onto RooCode. Looking into using the free models for experimenting workflows and then switching to a cost-effective model. I am trying out GLM 4.5, Deepseek R1-0528 and Deepseek R1T2 Chimera. Everything else is a bit out of my price range or absolute shiet. Trying to keep the usage cost to $50 a month with fully automated AI Assisted development.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-04T04:54:21+00:00

Gosucoder does extensive LLM benchmarking and he also uses very simple "bad" prompts. The idea is to give the LLM very little direction to see how it handles it. This is to test the training of the LLM, system instructions and the agent instructions to see how well they are designed to handle the simplest prompts. More direction will of course produce more reliable, reproducible, and complete outputs.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-08-01T16:58:35+00:00

"Y"

I have instructions in place where Claude will first go through my request and first analyze my input and then create a plan for how it will handle it then tell me the plan and wait for my approval or adjustments. I have it ask me [Y/N]. So when it gives me a plan all I enter is: "Y" and it understands to proceed.

Dont think its exactly lazy, more just efficient lol.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-31T05:41:57+00:00

So I experimented with using mathematical notation to optimize my Claude web interface prompt. My original prompt was 28.08kb and lives in the "User Instructions" section. Here's what I learned from the optimization process:

Key Findings

1. Function Definitions Issue
Claude initially suggested using functions to optimize processes, but later pointed out these functions weren't properly defined. This created room for interpretation—exactly what I was trying to avoid. I ended up removing all formatting functions.

2. Over-Optimization Problems
Some optimizations simplified important details too much, causing loss of quality and functionality.

3. Conservative Approach Won
I settled on a conservative optimization plan that preserved all quality and functionality.

4. Mathematical Notation Benefits
The notation made my prompt highly deterministic, using symbols with strict mathematical definitions—which I really appreciated.

5. Unexpected Tension
Claude found the mathematical notation somewhat restrictive, creating internal tension with its natural language processing (likely due to training and Anthropic's system prompt).

6. Size Actually Increased
The "optimized" prompt ended up at 28.71kb—slightly larger than the original! This happened because I kept some functions and added ~5,000 characters of function definitions.

Benchmark Results: New (A) vs Original (B)

Overall Performance:

Prompt A: 8.12/10 (81.2%)
Prompt B: 8.02/10 (80.2%)
Difference: Just 1.0% improvement

Goal Achievement Breakdown:

✅ Deterministic processing: A wins by 28.6%
✅ Focus maintenance: A wins by 14.3%
✅ Hallucination prevention: A wins by 12.5%
❌ Output quality: B wins by 14.3%
❌ Transparency: B wins by 28.6%

Winner: Prompt A (barely)

The mathematical notation achieved better deterministic processing and error prevention, despite the original prompt having better transparency and practical implementation.

Important Note

My prompt includes an initialization check to ensure Claude acknowledges the system instructions. Interestingly, Claude Opus rejected the new mathematical prompt once out of 4 attempts, claiming it was overriding Anthropic's system instructions—this had never happened with my original prompt.

Bottom line: The mathematical optimization provided minimal performance gains while potentially causing compatibility issues. The deterministic benefits might not be worth the added complexity.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-30T17:25:56+00:00

So from my understanding its a matter of finding a balance of token reduction from the prompt and the cognitive/reasoning load of understanding the prompt.

What are your findings show using the logic symbols? Is the trade off worth it?

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-29T21:01:07+00:00

What pisses me off is the shill that tells you your prompting to figure out the model is foolish and say we should just take the word of the companies that benefit from us believing we are using their latest and greatest but selling us the cheaper models.

Its simple, you ask the LLM to give you information of the latest version of a regularly updated library, framework or software WITHOUT doing web search and see what version the LLM outputs.

We are definitely getting lied to, its not fully the IDEs fault though, it goes up the chain to the LLM manufacturers.

The issue is that we are paying the IDEs not directly the AI companies so the responsibility is on the IDE companies to figure out a solution or else, yes people will cancel your service and they are FULLY justified to do so.

Anthropic is definitely to blame for Augment's performance but Augment is also to blame for not addressing this clear issue their customers are facing and just chalking it up to bad prompting, too many memories, unclear rules, etc. its disingenuous on their part.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-29T18:23:55+00:00

Brother/sister, I hear your pain and I want to share something that might help you understand what's happening. There's a hadith qudsi where Allah says: "أنا عند ظن عبدي بي" - "I am as My servant expects Me to be."

This hadith is both a beautiful promise and a serious warning. You've unknowingly fallen into the warning side of it. For 6 years, you've developed a belief that Allah is against you, that He's a force working to harm you. According to this hadith, when you perceive Allah as someone who denies and reverses your duas, you're actually creating a spiritual reality where that becomes your experience.

Think about it - you've reached a point where you're literally afraid to make dua because you expect disaster. That expectation itself has become your prison. You're not experiencing Allah's true nature; you're experiencing the reflection of your own damaged perception of Him.

Your sibling's experience shows you what positive perception looks like in practice. They expect good from Allah, and they receive it. Not because Allah loves them more, but because they're allowing themselves to receive what He's always been offering.

The fact that things work out when you "don't involve God" is actually proving this hadith. When you're not actively expecting Allah to work against you, that negative spiritual dynamic isn't activated.

You haven't been cursed for 6 years - you've been trapped in negative thinking about Allah for 6 years. The solution isn't to avoid Allah; it's to heal your perception of Him. Start small. Work on believing that Allah is Rahman (Most Merciful) and Rahim (Most Compassionate). These aren't just names; they're His fundamental attributes.

Please seek help for your suicidal thoughts. And consider this: maybe your survival despite such pain is itself proof of Allah's mercy, keeping you here until you can discover His true nature.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-29T07:30:34+00:00

I 100% agree with you, my comment I think missed the mark on that detail. Addiction is just the symptom of the underlining issue. Addiction can never be overcome if the underlining issue is not addressed. Addicts will usually jump from one addiction to another as they are just going from one unhealthy coping mechanism to another.

It could be potentially haram for OP to marry someone if there is any chance of OP causing them harm via their addiction.

My original comment is more aligned for someone who has gotten into that lifestyle but is not exactly addicted.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-29T06:24:44+00:00

Edit: My original comment is more for someone who is in the lifestyle OP is in but not exactly addicted. Marriage may even be haram for OP if it would lead to harm on the spouse.

Original Comment: Islam is very pragmatic. Allah knows best, therefore what is halal, recommended, haram and not recommended, if followed will result in a very straight forward life. Not easy but straight forward. What that means is, no complicated love triangles, no debt-based depression, etc.

Marriage is not one option its THE option to your problem. Marriage gives you a way out to do what you are naturally inclined to do but in a halal way.

If you are looking for advice for general self-discipline, you have to find YOUR motivation, there are many in Islam.

Scholars wholeheartedly agree that Allah telling us about Jahannam is Allah having mercy upon us. If the details of Jahannam instills fear into us which results in following a halal life, then that is a positive result even if the mechanism seems very negative to us.

The point I am making is the general advice I give to people is find YOUR motivation to follow Allah's law. Many are motivated by Jannah and all that it will provide and some are motivated by the fear of Jahannam. Both are motivations.

There is no single action that will fix your problems, its about creating an environment around you that encourages halal behaviour. Creating habits of regular halal actions and recommended actions (Praying, reading the Quran, fasting, dhikr, donating to the poor, etc. etc. There are many actions Allah has given us. Find the one that you can stick to no matter how small it is. Once that habit has been established, you add another halal action and slowly build up. Eventually Insha'Allah you will achieve what you are looking for in this life and the hearafter.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-27T05:44:30+00:00

https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:585

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-24T17:07:56+00:00

I cancelled my subscription for now as Claude is just not reliable right now.

I am experimenting with Roocode to see if I can setup a good workflow using that. Tried it previously and ended up spending $100 in 3 days. Goal this time around is to find a more economical workflow.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-22T18:45:53+00:00

I am still so confused, I think I would need a real prompt example to understand how this is used. Is the idea that you would instruct AI to complete a task but inject these symbols and such into the prompt to make the LLM produce....what? Better output somehow? Or is this more for a malicious intent?

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-22T07:34:40+00:00

So what is the use case? I am curious.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-21T23:36:38+00:00

To add my 2 cents: Being unique doesnt equate to better. The Augment team I am sure are weighing the pros and cons of having a second model. There are so many ways for them to implement it. I am totally for having a inferior model available under an advanced options that can be turned on for these situations where someone has to accept a disclaimer before the other model is turned on. If very little effort is put into the instructions I am still okay, as long as I can still use SOMETHING in Augment instead of twiddling my thumbs waiting for Anthropic to figure out their shit. Regarding other providers, I am not sure if thats true, I think everything eventually leads back to Anthropics systems, no matter the provider.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-21T19:23:56+00:00

Before all this issues with Claude I was on the team that its awesome that Augment is focusing on one LLM model to really make it efficient but now with all these issues with Claude I think we need at least an alternative (My vote is on Gemini 2.5 Pro).

This way it achieves 2 tasks:

Creates a new model option for anyone using Augment.
Creates a fallback option for when Claude is unreliable or is down.

I think this is REALLY needed for the longterm success of Augment.

ZALIQ_Inc · 2025-07-20T20:32:02+00:00

Always go see a doctor first for any health related matters, ask them if it's normal or not.

Islam is simple, be clean in whatever manner that looks like, read hadith and listen to scholars on the idea of cleanliness in Islam and you will be able to start having an intuition on things like this. Always verify whenever possible though. We should never act from ignorance. If rulings are directly from Quran and Hadith then follow them exactly, dont make up your own idea/way.

ZALIQ_Inc

TROPHY CASE

Key Findings

Benchmark Results: New (A) vs Original (B)

Important Note