agent-prompt_skill

Overview

This skill is a practical reference for writing effective agent prompts and building Warden skills. It codifies prompt structure, evaluation criteria, and architecture guidance so creators can produce reliable, reviewable prompts. Use it to speed up authoring, review quality, and align prompts with Warden's operational model.

How this skill works

The skill inspects prompt structure, role statements, task descriptions, and severity definitions to ensure clarity and safety. It checks for common anti-patterns, enforces structured output formats, and recommends model-specific optimizations for Claude 4.x. It also maps prompts to agentic patterns when tool use or multi-step reasoning is required.

When to use it

• Creating a new agent prompt or skill for Warden
• Reviewing or auditing existing prompts for clarity and safety
• Designing structured JSON outputs or integrating tools
• Optimizing prompts for Claude 4.x or similar models
• Training reviewers on prompt engineering best practices

Best practices

• Start with a concise role statement and a clear single-sentence task objective
• Define concrete acceptance criteria and severity levels tied to impact
• Prefer structured, example-driven output schemas over free-form text
• Avoid vague or open-ended instructions; constrain scope and expected steps
• Explicitly separate system-level context from user-facing instructions
• Test prompts with representative edge cases and refine using model feedback

Example use cases

• Authoring a skill that inspects source code for security or style issues
• Converting a manual checklist into an automated reviewer with tool calls
• Creating a prompt that returns a validated JSON report for downstream tooling
• Reviewing a prompt that chains tools and needs guardrails to prevent hallucination
• Adapting a prompt to leverage Claude 4.x strengths like instruction-following and long context