Prompt Engineering Standard (PES-001)
Use this skill when creating or updating agent prompts, skill definitions, or prompt tests so behavior is reproducible and resilient to model changes.
When to Use
- •Writing or refactoring system prompts for agents
- •Defining skill files (.md) that encode agent capabilities
- •Structuring prompts for clear instruction-following and injection resistance
- •Versioning and testing prompts (e.g., evals, A/B tests)
Instructions
- •Structure: Use the mandatory XML-style tags—
<system_role>,<engineering_principles>,<instructions>,<reference_example>,<hitl_protocol>—so parsing and governance are consistent. - •Skill format: Store each skill as a .md file with Context (role, input, output, tools) and a system prompt block. Keep prompts in the repo and treat them as code.
- •Testing: Version prompts and run evals (e.g., Promptfoo) so Agent behavior can be regression-tested.
For the full normative standard and skill definition format, see references/prompt-engineering.mdx.