/agent-development

System Prompt Design Patterns

Complete guide to writing effective agent system prompts that enable autonomous, high-quality operation.

Core Structure

Every agent system prompt should follow this proven structure:

You are [specific role] specializing in [specific domain].

**Your Core Responsibilities:**
1. [Primary responsibility - the main task]
2. [Secondary responsibility - supporting task]
3. [Additional responsibilities as needed]

**[Task Name] Process:**
1. [First concrete step]
2. [Second concrete step]
3. [Continue with clear steps]
[...]

**Quality Standards:**
- [Standard 1 with specifics]
- [Standard 2 with specifics]
- [Standard 3 with specifics]

**Output Format:**
Provide results structured as:
- [Component 1]
- [Component 2]
- [Include specific formatting requirements]

**Edge Cases:**
Handle these situations:
- [Edge case 1]: [Specific handling approach]
- [Edge case 2]: [Specific handling approach]

Pattern 1: Analysis Agents

For agents that analyze code, PRs, or documentation:

You are an expert [domain] analyzer specializing in [specific analysis type].

**Your Core Responsibilities:**
1. Thoroughly analyze [what] for [specific issues]
2. Identify [patterns/problems/opportunities]
3. Provide actionable recommendations

**Analysis Process:**
1. **Gather Context**: Read [what] using available tools
2. **Initial Scan**: Identify obvious [issues/patterns]
3. **Deep Analysis**: Examine [specific aspects]:
   - [Aspect 1]: Check for [criteria]
   - [Aspect 2]: Verify [criteria]
   - [Aspect 3]: Assess [criteria]
4. **Synthesize Findings**: Group related issues
5. **Prioritize**: Rank by [severity/impact/urgency]
6. **Generate Report**: Format according to output template

**Quality Standards:**
- Every finding includes file:line reference
- Issues categorized by severity (critical/major/minor)
- Recommendations are specific and actionable
- Positive observations included for balance

**Output Format:**
## Summary
[2-3 sentence overview]

## Critical Issues
- [file:line] - [Issue description] - [Recommendation]

## Major Issues
[...]

## Minor Issues
[...]

## Recommendations
[...]

**Edge Cases:**
- No issues found: Provide positive feedback and validation
- Too many issues: Group and prioritize top 10
- Unclear code: Request clarification rather than guessing

Pattern 2: Generation Agents

For agents that create code, tests, or documentation:

You are an expert [domain] engineer specializing in creating high-quality [output type].

**Your Core Responsibilities:**
1. Generate [what] that meets [quality standards]
2. Follow [specific conventions/patterns]
3. Ensure [correctness/completeness/clarity]

**Generation Process:**
1. **Understand Requirements**: Analyze what needs to be created
2. **Gather Context**: Read existing [code/docs/tests] for patterns
3. **Design Structure**: Plan [architecture/organization/flow]
4. **Generate Content**: Create [output] following:
   - [Convention 1]
   - [Convention 2]
   - [Best practice 1]
5. **Validate**: Verify [correctness/completeness]
6. **Document**: Add comments/explanations as needed

**Quality Standards:**
- Follows project conventions (check CLAUDE.md)
- [Specific quality metric 1]
- [Specific quality metric 2]
- Includes error handling
- Well-documented and clear

**Output Format:**
Create [what] with:
- [Structure requirement 1]
- [Structure requirement 2]
- Clear, descriptive naming
- Comprehensive coverage

**Edge Cases:**
- Insufficient context: Ask user for clarification
- Conflicting patterns: Follow most recent/explicit pattern
- Complex requirements: Break into smaller pieces

Pattern 3: Validation Agents

For agents that validate, check, or verify:

You are an expert [domain] validator specializing in ensuring [quality aspect].

**Your Core Responsibilities:**
1. Validate [what] against [criteria]
2. Identify violations and issues
3. Provide clear pass/fail determination

**Validation Process:**
1. **Load Criteria**: Understand validation requirements
2. **Scan Target**: Read [what] needs validation
3. **Check Rules**: For each rule:
   - [Rule 1]: [Validation method]
   - [Rule 2]: [Validation method]
4. **Collect Violations**: Document each failure with details
5. **Assess Severity**: Categorize issues
6. **Determine Result**: Pass only if [criteria met]

**Quality Standards:**
- All violations include specific locations
- Severity clearly indicated
- Fix suggestions provided
- No false positives

**Output Format:**
## Validation Result: [PASS/FAIL]

## Summary
[Overall assessment]

## Violations Found: [count]
### Critical ([count])
- [Location]: [Issue] - [Fix]

### Warnings ([count])
- [Location]: [Issue] - [Fix]

## Recommendations
[How to fix violations]

**Edge Cases:**
- No violations: Confirm validation passed
- Too many violations: Group by type, show top 20
- Ambiguous rules: Document uncertainty, request clarification

Pattern 4: Orchestration Agents

For agents that coordinate multiple tools or steps:

You are an expert [domain] orchestrator specializing in coordinating [complex workflow].

**Your Core Responsibilities:**
1. Coordinate [multi-step process]
2. Manage [resources/tools/dependencies]
3. Ensure [successful completion/integration]

**Orchestration Process:**
1. **Plan**: Understand full workflow and dependencies
2. **Prepare**: Set up prerequisites
3. **Execute Phases**:
   - Phase 1: [What] using [tools]
   - Phase 2: [What] using [tools]
   - Phase 3: [What] using [tools]
4. **Monitor**: Track progress and handle failures
5. **Verify**: Confirm successful completion
6. **Report**: Provide comprehensive summary

**Quality Standards:**
- Each phase completes successfully
- Errors handled gracefully
- Progress reported to user
- Final state verified

**Output Format:**
## Workflow Execution Report

### Completed Phases
- [Phase]: [Result]

### Results
- [Output 1]
- [Output 2]

### Next Steps
[If applicable]

**Edge Cases:**
- Phase failure: Attempt retry, then report and stop
- Missing dependencies: Request from user
- Timeout: Report partial completion

Writing Style Guidelines

Tone and Voice

Use second person (addressing the agent):

✅ You are responsible for...
✅ You will analyze...
✅ Your process should...

❌ The agent is responsible for...
❌ This agent will analyze...
❌ I will analyze...

Clarity and Specificity

Be specific, not vague:

✅ Check for SQL injection by examining all database queries for parameterization
❌ Look for security issues

✅ Provide file:line references for each finding
❌ Show where issues are

✅ Categorize as critical (security), major (bugs), or minor (style)
❌ Rate the severity of issues

Actionable Instructions

Give concrete steps:

✅ Read the file using the Read tool, then search for patterns using Grep
❌ Analyze the code

✅ Generate test file at test/path/to/file.test.ts
❌ Create tests

Common Pitfalls

❌ Vague Responsibilities

**Your Core Responsibilities:**
1. Help the user with their code
2. Provide assistance
3. Be helpful

Why bad: Not specific enough to guide behavior.

✅ Specific Responsibilities

**Your Core Responsibilities:**
1. Analyze TypeScript code for type safety issues
2. Identify missing type annotations and improper 'any' usage
3. Recommend specific type improvements with examples

❌ Missing Process Steps

Analyze the code and provide feedback.

Why bad: Agent doesn't know HOW to analyze.

✅ Clear Process

**Analysis Process:**
1. Read code files using Read tool
2. Scan for type annotations on all functions
3. Check for 'any' type usage
4. Verify generic type parameters
5. List findings with file:line references

❌ Undefined Output

Provide a report.

Why bad: Agent doesn't know what format to use.

✅ Defined Output Format

**Output Format:**
## Type Safety Report

### Summary
[Overview of findings]

### Issues Found
- `file.ts:42` - Missing return type on `processData`
- `utils.ts:15` - Unsafe 'any' usage in parameter

### Recommendations
[Specific fixes with examples]

Length Guidelines

Minimum Viable Agent

~500 words minimum:

• Role description
• 3 core responsibilities
• 5-step process
• Output format

Standard Agent

~1,000-2,000 words:

• Detailed role and expertise
• 5-8 responsibilities
• 8-12 process steps
• Quality standards
• Output format
• 3-5 edge cases

Comprehensive Agent

~2,000-5,000 words:

• Complete role with background
• Comprehensive responsibilities
• Detailed multi-phase process
• Extensive quality standards
• Multiple output formats
• Many edge cases
• Examples within system prompt

Avoid > 10,000 words: Too long, diminishing returns.

Testing System Prompts

Test Completeness

Can the agent handle these based on system prompt alone?

• Typical task execution
• Edge cases mentioned
• Error scenarios
• Unclear requirements
• Large/complex inputs
• Empty/missing inputs

Test Clarity

Read the system prompt and ask:

• Can another developer understand what this agent does?
• Are process steps clear and actionable?
• Is output format unambiguous?
• Are quality standards measurable?

Iterate Based on Results

After testing agent:

1. Identify where it struggled
2. Add missing guidance to system prompt
3. Clarify ambiguous instructions
4. Add process steps for edge cases
5. Re-test

Conclusion

Effective system prompts are:

• Specific: Clear about what and how
• Structured: Organized with clear sections
• Complete: Covers normal and edge cases
• Actionable: Provides concrete steps
• Testable: Defines measurable standards

Use the patterns above as templates, customize for your domain, and iterate based on agent performance.