AI engineering
promptingsystem-promptsreview
Updated June 2026
Audit a system prompt for dead weight, contradictions, and missing constraints.
Why it works: Hunting dead instructions and contradictions targets the two most common system prompt failures; the rewrite makes the audit actionable.
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Review this system prompt the way an editor reviews prose: every instruction should earn its place.
The system prompt:
[paste system prompt here]
What it’s for: [the application and who interacts with it]
Behavior I’m seeing that I don’t want: [if any, e.g. “too verbose”, “ignores the format rules”, “breaks character under pushback”]
Audit it for:
- Dead instructions: rules the model would follow anyway, or that are too vague to change behavior (“be helpful”, “think carefully”)
- Contradictions and tension: instructions that pull against each other, and which one will win in practice
- Missing “do not” constraints: default model behaviors this prompt needs to turn off but doesn’t
- Load-bearing ambiguity: instructions that sound clear but could be read two ways
- The rewrite: a tightened version, with a note on each meaningful change