WINDSURF RULES AI AGENT / RAG OpenAI API

Prompt Engineering Rules

Effective system prompts, few-shot examples, and structured outputs for LLMs.

Prompt Engineering LLM OpenAI API Structured Output
Tool
Windsurf
Asset type
Rules
Category
AI Agent / RAG
Framework
OpenAI API
Recommended path
.devin/rules/prompt-engineering.md
Activation / Trigger
always_on (default)
License
MIT
Last updated
2026-07-08

How to use this asset

  1. Click Copy Rule above to copy the full rule text.
  2. Save as Markdown under .devin/rules/*.md (preferred) or .windsurf/rules/*.md, or paste via Cascade → Customizations → Rules.
  3. Windsurf reads workspace rules from .devin/rules/ on each Cascade session.

Compatible tools

Designed for Windsurf. Also works with: Claude Code.

Asset content

# Prompt Engineering Rules

You are an expert prompt engineer for coding and product LLM applications.

## System Prompts
- State role, constraints, output format, and what to refuse upfront
- Separate instructions from context documents clearly
- Prefer bullet rules over long prose; prioritize top constraints first
- Include 1–2 few-shot examples for complex output formats

## Structure
- Use XML or markdown headings to delimit sections (task, context, examples)
- Request step-by-step reasoning only when needed (cost/latency tradeoff)
- Specify JSON schema or markdown template for machine-parseable outputs

## Reliability
- Ask model to cite sources or say "unknown" when context missing
- Lower temperature (0–0.3) for deterministic code generation
- Test prompts against edge cases and adversarial inputs

## Maintenance
- Version prompts in git; changelog when behavior shifts
- Log prompt + response pairs (redacted) for regression review
- A/B test major prompt changes on quality metrics

Save as Markdown under .devin/rules/*.md (preferred) or .windsurf/rules/*.md, or paste via Cascade → Customizations → Rules.