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Prompting·basic

Output format

Tell the AI what shape you want. It will give you that shape.

An AI will happily give you a wall of prose when you wanted a table. Avoid this by specifying the format up front:

  • "Reply as a numbered list, one item per line."
  • "Return only JSON with the keys title, summary, and difficulty."
  • "Answer in exactly three sentences."
  • "Give me a markdown table with columns for Name, Role, and Year."

Output format is one of the easiest wins in prompting. Decide what you'll do with the response — paste it into code, read it as a table, drop it into a slide — and describe that shape before asking.

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