Promptles
Output Format

Show an Example

Show one real input and the exact output you want. One example settles what a description leaves open.

When the exact shape of the result matters, show one example of what goes in and the output you want. An example settles format, wording, and spacing faster than a description. Vague: "Format the log lines nicely." Specific: "Turn an entry with level warn and message 'disk 91%' into [WARN] disk 91%, one line per entry."

Where you'll practice this

2 Promptles scenarios teach this principle directly. Each one drops you into a real engineering ticket and asks you to write the prompt you'd send to Claude Code.

  • Show the Receipt

    Copper Kettle runs a café cart at the weekend farmers market, and its app prints receipts with `printReceipt(items)` in `receipt.js`. Today every item lands on one line, like `Coffee: 3.5, Bagel: 2.25`. Rosa, the owner, sketched the receipt she wants on a napkin: each item on…

  • Sort Replies with Claude

    Brightdesk's outbound campaigns get a few hundred email replies a day, and Wen Zhao, the SDR (the rep who follows up on campaign replies), sorts them by hand into five piles: interested, not interested, out of office, unsubscribe, and wrong person. You want a script that sends…

Other principles in Output Format