Prompt Structure

Well-structured prompts get complete, actionable responses. Poor structure leads to back-and-forth clarifications and incomplete solutions.

Separate Concerns

Ineffective

"Update the User model to add email verification and also create an API endpoint for password reset and add validation for the profile update form"

Effective

Break into focused requests:

• "Add email verification to User model using Laravel's MustVerifyEmail trait"

• "Create password reset API endpoint at POST /api/password/reset"

• "Add validation to ProfileUpdateRequest for name, email, and bio fields"

Each request has one clear goal. Easier to review, test, and iterate.

Prioritize and Sequence

Ineffective

"Need authentication, user dashboard, admin panel, and email notifications"

Effective

"Let's build authentication first:

• Set up Sanctum for API authentication

• Create login/register endpoints

• Add middleware to protect routes

Once auth works, we'll add the user dashboard, then admin features, then notifications."

Sequence matters. Build foundation first, then features that depend on it.

Specify Acceptance Criteria

Vague

"Make the checkout process work"

Specific

"Implement checkout process with these requirements:

• User must be authenticated

• Cart must have at least one item

• Calculate total including tax (8.5%)

• Create Order record with 'pending' status

• Dispatch ProcessOrderJob to queue

• Return order ID and confirmation message

• Handle payment failures gracefully"

Clear criteria = clear implementation.

Break Down Work

Too Large

"Build a complete blog system with posts, comments, categories, tags, and search"

Right-Sized

"Let's start with core post functionality:

Phase 1: Basic Posts

• Create Post model (title, content, published_at)

• Add CRUD endpoints

• Write feature tests for create/read/update/delete

Phase 2: Categories

• Add Category model with belongsToMany relationship

• Update post endpoints to handle categories

• Test category assignment

Phase 3: Comments (and so on...)

Each phase is testable and deliverable."

Refactoring Requests

Unclear

"This code is messy, clean it up"

Clear

"Refactor UserController@store:

Current problem:

• 80 lines in one method

• Mixes validation, business logic, and email sending

• Hard to test individual pieces

Desired improvements:

• Extract validation to UserStoreRequest

• Move user creation logic to UserService

• Dispatch SendWelcomeEmail job instead of inline sending

• Controller should orchestrate, not implement"

Explain the problem and the desired state.

Planning Features

Ineffective

"Add social login"

Effective

"Add GitHub OAuth login:

Acceptance criteria:

• User clicks 'Login with GitHub' button

• Redirects to GitHub OAuth

• On callback, create or find user by github_id

• Store github_token for API access

• Redirect to dashboard with session

Testable increments:

• Set up Socialite with GitHub provider

• Add github_id and github_token columns to users

• Create OAuth controller with redirect and callback methods

• Write feature test for full OAuth flow

• Add 'Login with GitHub' button to login page"

Break it down. Make it testable.

Quick Reference

Structure your prompts:

• One concern per request - Don't mix unrelated changes

• Sequence logically - Build dependencies first

• Define success - What does "done" look like?

• Break down large work - Aim for testable increments

• Explain refactoring - Current problem + desired state

Clear structure = clear results.