By skyforbes After working with autonomous agents across multiple frameworks, here are some practical tips that consistently improve performance by focusing on: clarity, structure and intent.
- Be explicit about your goals
Instead of: "find me some articles"
Try: "search for 3 recent articles on AI agent reliability from reputable sources and summarize key points"
- Use step by step instructions
Agents often perform better when tasks are broken down into smaller steps. For example:
- search for relevant papers
- extract key findings
- compare methodologies
- summarize in bullet points
- Avoid vague verbs
Words like analyze or optimize can be interpreted too broadly. Get specific about what you're looking for e.g. "compare latency across three agent frameworks using benchmark X."
- Include constraints
Time limits, source types, formatting can help agents stay focused and aligned e.g. "use only open access sources published after 2023"
What are prompt structures do you frequently use that work well?