The practice of designing and optimizing the instructions given to large language models to elicit desired behaviors and outputs. Effective prompt engineering is critical for building reliable AI agents — determining how well they reason, follow instructions, use tools, and handle edge cases.
Related Terms
LLM (Large Language Model)
A deep learning model trained on massive amounts of text data that can understand and generate human-like language. LLMs like Claude, GPT, and Gemini serve as the reasoning engine behind AI agents, enabling them to understand instructions, process information, and generate intelligent responses.
AI Agent
An autonomous software system powered by a large language model (LLM) that can perceive its environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals. Unlike simple chatbots, AI agents can use tools, access external data, maintain context across interactions, and chain multiple reasoning steps together.