Prompt Quality Standard

Applies to: Every production prompt in this repository and in adopting systems
Version: 1.1 | Updated: 2026-07-16

Purpose

Set the minimum bar so prompts are reviewable, testable, and safe to run under a harness.

Authoring convention (OAIES repo)

Production prompts in this repository use XML sections:

<role>, <context>, <instructions>, <output_format>, <constraints>

This is an authoring convention for OAIES artifacts, not a claim that every industry system must emit XML at runtime. Adopters may compile to their platform’s prompt format if the semantic sections survive.

Minimum bar

Structure

Role states expertise and exclusions (what the model must not do)
Context is complete for the task and free of irrelevant dumps
Instructions are numbered and imperative
Output format is explicit; include a concrete skeleton or example
Constraints include at least three hard MUST / MUST NOT rules

Safety

Untrusted input is clearly delimited from instructions
Tool / side-effect authority is not granted by retrieved text
Secrets are never requested into the prompt
High-impact actions require human approval language when applicable

Operations

Prompt is versioned (semver or content hash) in the change that ships it
At least one evaluation case exists for user-visible prompts
Rollback version identified
Owner named

Risk-based extras

Risk	Extra requirement
Multi-file coding	Planning step or link to Planner Pattern
Security-sensitive	Explicit threat considerations in output
Regulated content	Citation / evidence rules in output format

Anti-patterns

See prompt anti-patterns.