By skyforbes Everyone’s busy writing “perfect prompts.”
But most of them are just throwing spaghetti into the void.
But most of them are just throwing spaghetti into the void.
The real cheat code isn’t more words —
it’s more structure.
Specifically: XML-style tags.
Five of them. That’s it.
<thinking> → forces clear reasoning steps
<examples> → provides reference patterns
<constraints>→ sets hard boundaries
<tone> → controls the style
<audience> → locks who it’s for
Each tag works like a scalpel.
No bleeding between concepts.
Thinking doesn’t leak into tone.
Examples don’t confuse the audience.
Constraints don’t smother creativity.
Most people prompt like they’re talking to a psychic:
“Here’s what I want… figure it out.”
But AI isn’t psychic.
It’s obedient.
If you tag the instruction type,
it executes exactly within that frame.
Most people are over-prompting.
I’m under-prompting.
And consistently getting better outputs.