Definition
Prompt engineering
Prompt engineering is the practice of designing, testing, and maintaining instructions that make AI outputs more reliable for a specific task. In mature workflows it includes examples, constraints, source boundaries, evaluation criteria, and version control, not only clever wording.
Last updated: 25 June 2026
Why it matters
It makes repeated AI work less dependent on individual prompt habits and easier to audit.
Signals to watch
- Prompts are reusable
- Examples guide the model
- Outputs are checked against criteria