Master advanced prompt engineering techniques to maximize LLM performance, reliability, and controllability in production. Use when optimizing prompts, improving LLM outputs, or designing production prompt templates.
58
41%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
85%
1.16xAverage score across 3 eval scenarios
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./tests/ext_conformance/artifacts/agents-wshobson/llm-application-dev/skills/prompt-engineering-patterns/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
67%Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.
The description has a solid structure with an explicit 'Use when' clause, which is good for completeness. However, it leans toward buzzword-heavy language ('maximize LLM performance, reliability, and controllability') rather than listing specific concrete techniques or actions. The trigger terms cover the basics but miss many natural variations users might employ when seeking prompt engineering help.
Suggestions
Replace the abstract opener with specific concrete actions, e.g., 'Design system prompts, implement few-shot examples, apply chain-of-thought reasoning, structure prompt templates for production use.'
Expand trigger terms in the 'Use when' clause to include natural variations like 'system prompt', 'few-shot', 'chain of thought', 'prompt design', 'prompt tuning', or 'AI instructions'.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Names the domain ('prompt engineering') and mentions some actions ('optimizing prompts', 'improving LLM outputs', 'designing production prompt templates'), but these are fairly high-level and not concrete specific techniques. 'Master advanced prompt engineering techniques' is more of a tagline than a list of concrete actions. | 2 / 3 |
Completeness | Clearly answers both 'what' (advanced prompt engineering techniques for LLM performance, reliability, controllability) and 'when' with an explicit 'Use when' clause covering optimizing prompts, improving LLM outputs, and designing production prompt templates. | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Includes some relevant keywords like 'prompt engineering', 'LLM', 'prompts', 'production prompt templates', but misses many natural variations users might say such as 'system prompt', 'few-shot', 'chain of thought', 'prompt design', 'prompt optimization', 'AI instructions', or 'prompt tuning'. | 2 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | The domain of 'prompt engineering' is reasonably specific, but terms like 'improving LLM outputs' and 'maximize LLM performance' are broad enough to potentially overlap with skills related to general LLM usage, AI development, or model evaluation. The 'production' qualifier helps somewhat but doesn't fully disambiguate. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 9 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
14%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This skill reads like a comprehensive prompt engineering tutorial aimed at human developers rather than concise, actionable instructions for Claude. It is extremely verbose, explaining many concepts Claude already knows (chain-of-thought, few-shot learning, system prompts), and lacks a clear workflow or process for Claude to follow when actually performing prompt engineering tasks. The code examples provide some value but are buried in excessive explanatory content.
Suggestions
Cut the content by 60-70%: Remove 'When to Use', 'Core Capabilities' overview, 'Best Practices', 'Common Pitfalls', 'Success Metrics', and 'Resources' sections—these are all knowledge Claude already has. Focus only on project-specific patterns and conventions.
Add a clear workflow: Define a step-by-step process like '1. Start with simplest prompt → 2. Test on 3+ diverse inputs → 3. Add constraints/examples only if needed → 4. Validate with structured output → 5. Measure before/after' with explicit validation checkpoints.
Split into multiple files: Move the 6 detailed patterns into a separate PATTERNS.md file, keep SKILL.md as a concise overview with the quick-start example and workflow, and reference patterns by name.
Reframe as instructions TO Claude: Instead of 'Here are prompt engineering concepts', write 'When asked to design/optimize a prompt, follow these steps and apply these project-specific conventions.'
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | This skill is extremely verbose (~400+ lines) and largely explains concepts Claude already knows well—prompt engineering patterns, chain-of-thought, few-shot learning, system prompt design. The 'When to Use This Skill', 'Best Practices', 'Common Pitfalls', and 'Success Metrics' sections are all generic knowledge that add no novel value. Much of the content reads like a tutorial for a human developer, not actionable instructions for Claude. | 1 / 3 |
Actionability | The code examples are mostly executable and concrete (Pydantic schemas, LangChain chains, Anthropic API calls), which is good. However, the skill doesn't clearly instruct Claude on what to DO—it's more of a reference catalog of patterns than actionable guidance for a specific task. Many sections are descriptive bullet lists rather than executable instructions. | 2 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | There is no clear multi-step workflow for prompt engineering tasks. The content presents isolated patterns without sequencing them into a coherent process (e.g., 'when a user asks you to optimize a prompt, do X then Y then Z'). There are no validation checkpoints or feedback loops for the prompt engineering process itself—no 'test the prompt, evaluate results, iterate' workflow with concrete steps. | 1 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The entire skill is a monolithic wall of text with all content inline. Despite being very long, there are no references to separate files for detailed patterns. The Resources section links to external URLs but doesn't split the content into manageable sub-files. The 'Core Capabilities' section lists topics that are then repeated in the 'Key Patterns' section, creating redundancy rather than clear navigation. | 1 / 3 |
Total | 5 / 12 Passed |
Validation
100%Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.
Validation — 11 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
No warnings or errors.
6e3d68c
Table of Contents
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