📋Prompt Templates & Patterns

Copy-paste ready templates for summarization, extraction, classification, and more

Prompt Templates & Patterns

Instead of writing prompts from scratch every time, use proven, effective templates. In this lesson, you'll find ready-to-use templates you can copy and adapt.

1. Summarization Template

Summarize the following text in [number] key points.

Rules:
- Each point should be a single clear sentence
- Focus on the most important information
- Ignore secondary details

Text:
"""
[paste text here]
"""

Code example:

JavaScript
async function summarize(text, numPoints = 5) {
  const response = await client.messages.create({
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens: 1024,
    messages: [{
      role: "user",
      content: `Summarize the following text in ${numPoints} key points.\n\n"""${text}"""`
    }],
  });
  return response.content[0].text;
}

2. Data Extraction Template

Extract the following from the text and return as JSON:
- name
- email
- phone
- company

If a field is not found, use null.
Return valid JSON only, no additional text.

Text:
"""
[paste text here]
"""

Code example:

JavaScript
async function extractInfo(text, fields) {
  const response = await client.messages.create({
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens: 1024,
    messages: [{
      role: "user",
      content: `Extract ${fields.join(", ")} from the text as JSON. Use null for missing fields.\n\n"""${text}"""`
    }],
  });
  return JSON.parse(response.content[0].text);
}

3. Classification with Few-Shot

JavaScript
async function classifySentiment(text) {
  const response = await client.messages.create({
    model: "claude-haiku-3-5-20241022",
    max_tokens: 50,
    messages: [{
      role: "user",
      content: `Classify sentiment as: positive, negative, or neutral

Examples:
"Great product, highly recommend!" — positive
"Terrible, would never buy again" — negative
"It's okay, nothing special" — neutral

Now classify:
"${text}" —`
    }],
  });
  return response.content[0].text.trim();
}

4. Code Review Template

Review the following code for:
1. Logic errors
2. Security issues
3. Performance problems
4. Readability

For each issue: severity, line number, description, suggested fix with code.

5. Translation Template

Translate from [source language] to [target language].

Rules:
- Maintain the same tone and style
- Do not translate proper nouns or technical terms
- Preserve formatting

6. Document Q&A Template

You answer questions based ONLY on the provided document.

Rules:
- Answer only from the document
- If not found, say "This information is not in the document"
- Quote relevant sections when answering

7. Reusable Template Library

JavaScript
const templates = {
  summarize: (text, n) => `Summarize in ${n} points:\n"""${text}"""`,
  classify: (text, categories) =>
    `Classify into: ${categories.join(", ")}. Reply with just the label.\n\n"${text}"`,
  extract: (text, fields) =>
    `Extract ${fields.join(", ")} as JSON. Use null for missing.\n\n"""${text}"""`,
  translate: (text, from, to) =>
    `Translate from ${from} to ${to}. Keep proper nouns and code.\n\n"""${text}"""`,
};

// Usage
const prompt = templates.classify(
  "The product broke after one day",
  ["positive", "negative", "neutral"]
);

8. Step-by-Step Explanation Template

Explain [topic] step by step.

Rules:
- Assume the reader has no background
- Use simple language
- Include an analogy or real-world example
- End with a summary

Tips for Effective Templates

Be specific — Define exactly what you want and don't want
Give examples — Examples are more powerful than instructions
Specify format — Say how you want output (JSON, bullets, table...)
Use delimiters — Separate instructions from data with """ or ---
Test and iterate — Try the template with different data and refine

Summary

Ready-made templates save time and improve result quality. Save your favorite templates and use them as starting points for every new task.

Next: We'll learn how to build AI agent loops.

Module 7

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📐 Prompt Engineering Fundamentals

Evaluating & Testing Prompts 📊

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