AI Glossary

System prompt

Also called system message

What does “System prompt” mean?

System prompt: Instructions set by the developer or operator of an AI app that the model reads before the user's messages. It usually defines the assistant's role, tone, rules and available tools, and it applies to the whole conversation. End users of a product often never see it.

System prompt visual guide: Instructions set by the developer or operator of an AI app that the model reads before the user's messages. It usually defines the assistant's role, tone, rules and available tools, and it applies to the whole conversation. End users of a product often never see it.
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What is an example of “System prompt”?

A customer-support bot's system prompt might tell it to answer only questions about the company's products and to hand billing disputes to a human.

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See also

PromptTermPrompt engineeringTermContext windowTermPrompt cachingTerm

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