https://github.com/phalves23/prompt-engineering-skill
Prompt Engineering skill for Claude Code — rewrites and optimizes prompts using proven techniques (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, The Prompt Report).
https://github.com/phalves23/prompt-engineering-skill
ai claude claude-code claude-code-plugin claude-skill copilot cursor gemini llm openai prompt-engineering prompts
Last synced: 10 days ago
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Prompt Engineering skill for Claude Code — rewrites and optimizes prompts using proven techniques (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, The Prompt Report).
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/phalves23/prompt-engineering-skill
- Owner: PhAlves23
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-06-05T21:07:59.000Z (16 days ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-06-05T23:39:15.000Z (16 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-06-07T02:02:58.937Z (15 days ago)
- Topics: ai, claude, claude-code, claude-code-plugin, claude-skill, copilot, cursor, gemini, llm, openai, prompt-engineering, prompts
- Language: HTML
- Homepage: https://promptcause.com/
- Size: 815 KB
- Stars: 4
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 3
- Open Issues: 2
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml
- License: LICENSE
- Code of conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- Citation: CITATION.cff
- Codeowners: .github/CODEOWNERS
- Security: SECURITY.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
**An AI skill that turns a raw draft into a production-grade prompt.**
It rewrites and optimizes prompts using proven techniques, then hands you a ready-to-paste result plus a short changelog of what changed and why — calibrated to your task type and target model.
[](LICENSE)
[](https://github.com/PhAlves23/prompt-engineering-skill/actions/workflows/validate.yml)
[](https://github.com/PhAlves23/prompt-engineering-skill/releases)
[](CONTRIBUTING.md)
Works with **Claude Code · GitHub Copilot · OpenAI Codex · Gemini CLI · OpenCode · Cursor · Windsurf · Cline**
---
## Table of contents
- [Why this skill](#why-this-skill)
- [How it works](#how-it-works)
- [Example](#example)
- [Installation](#installation)
- [Verify installation](#verify-installation)
- [Usage](#usage)
- [What's inside](#whats-inside)
- [Updating](#updating)
- [Uninstall](#uninstall)
- [Contributing](#contributing)
- [Project structure](#project-structure)
- [License](#license)
---
## Why this skill
Most prompt advice is a handful of generic tips. This skill is different in three ways:
- **Grounded in primary sources.** Every technique is traceable to a cited source — Anthropic's prompting best practices and prompt improver, OpenAI's GPT-5/reasoning guides, Google's Gemini PTCF, and *The Prompt Report*'s academic taxonomy of 58 techniques. See [`sources.md`](plugins/prompt-engineering/skills/prompt-engineering/references/sources.md).
- **Model-aware.** The rules differ by model family. The skill adapts to Claude 4.x, OpenAI GPT/reasoning (o-series), and Gemini — e.g. it removes "think step by step" for reasoning models, which actively hurts them.
- **Anti-overengineering.** It calibrates effort to complexity. A simple prompt gets a lean rewrite; it won't bloat it with chain-of-thought and examples it doesn't need.
> It **improves the prompt** — it does not run it, unless you explicitly ask.
## How it works
You paste a draft (or describe what you want). The skill runs a five-phase workflow:
1. **Diagnose** — real intent, task type, target model, audience, output format, constraints, and the draft's weaknesses.
2. **Select techniques** — only those that add value for this task and model.
3. **Rewrite** — assemble the prompt in a canonical structure (role, context+motivation, XML-tagged data, positive instructions, few-shot, output contract).
4. **Self-review** — run a quality checklist; the golden test is "could a colleague with no context run this without doubt?"
5. **Deliver** — the optimized prompt + a changelog mapping each change to the weakness it fixes.
## Example
Your draft (before)
After the skill
```
classify the sentiment
of this comment:
{{comment}}
```
```
You are a sentiment analyst
specialized in customer feedback.
Classify the sentiment of the comment
below into one of these categories:
positive, negative, neutral.
{{comment}}
Follow these steps:
1. Identify expressions that carry emotion.
2. Weigh the overall tone, accounting
for irony and negation.
3. Choose the predominant sentiment.
Put your reasoning in . On the
last line, answer ONLY one word:
positive, negative, or neutral.
```
**What the skill changed, and why:** added a **role** (calibrates interpretation), a strict **enum output contract** (`ONLY one word` — parseable), a short **chain-of-thought** (catches irony/negation, the top error source in sentiment), and **XML** around the input (robust to comments with line breaks). Every rewrite ships with this changelog.
See six more cases — coding, extraction, research, agentic, long-context, and an already-good prompt — in [`worked-examples.md`](plugins/prompt-engineering/skills/prompt-engineering/references/worked-examples.md).
## Installation
Pick your tool. Claude Code is the primary target; the rest are fully supported.
Claude Code
**One-line installer** (copies the skill into `~/.claude/skills/`, backs up any existing install, touches nothing else):
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PhAlves23/prompt-engineering-skill/main/install.sh | bash
```
**Or as a plugin** (versioned, updatable):
```
/plugin marketplace add PhAlves23/prompt-engineering-skill
/plugin install prompt-engineering
```
Restart Claude Code after installing.
GitHub Copilot CLI
The plugin marketplace works in Copilot CLI too:
```bash
copilot plugin marketplace add PhAlves23/prompt-engineering-skill
copilot plugin install prompt-engineering@prompt-engineering-marketplace
```
OpenAI Codex
Codex discovers the full skill from `~/.agents/skills/`. Full guide: [`docs/INSTALL.codex.md`](docs/INSTALL.codex.md).
```bash
git clone https://github.com/PhAlves23/prompt-engineering-skill.git ~/.codex/prompt-engineering-skill
mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills
ln -s ~/.codex/prompt-engineering-skill/plugins/prompt-engineering/skills/prompt-engineering ~/.agents/skills/prompt-engineering
```
Gemini CLI
```bash
gemini extensions install https://github.com/PhAlves23/prompt-engineering-skill
```
OpenCode
Reads `AGENTS.md` natively. Quickest path (full guide: [`docs/INSTALL.opencode.md`](docs/INSTALL.opencode.md)):
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PhAlves23/prompt-engineering-skill/main/adapters/codex/AGENTS.md -o AGENTS.md
```
Cursor / Windsurf / Cline
Copy the rule for your tool from [`adapters/`](adapters/):
- **Cursor** → `adapters/cursor/.cursor/rules/prompt-engineering.mdc` into your project's `.cursor/rules/` (invoke with `@prompt-engineering`). A native Cursor plugin manifest is also provided at `.cursor-plugin/plugin.json`.
- **Windsurf** → `adapters/windsurf/.windsurf/rules/prompt-engineering.md` into `.windsurf/rules/` (activates by intent).
- **Cline** → `adapters/cline/.clinerules/prompt-engineering.md` into `.clinerules/prompt-engineering.md` (workspace rule; ask explicitly).
See [`adapters/README.md`](adapters/README.md) for details and other tools (Roo, Continue, Zed).
## Verify installation
Start a new session and ask for something that should trigger the skill — for example, paste a draft with "improve this prompt", or run `/prompt-engineering` in Claude Code. You should get an optimized prompt + a changelog.
```bash
# Claude Code / curl install:
test -f ~/.claude/skills/prompt-engineering/SKILL.md && echo "installed" || echo "not found"
```
## Usage
Type `/prompt-engineering` (Claude Code / Copilot), or simply say:
- "improve this prompt"
- "optimize this prompt"
- "rewrite this prompt"
- or paste a draft and ask to make it better.
The skill activates automatically (where the tool supports intent-based activation) and returns the rewritten prompt plus a changelog.
## What's inside
| Component | What it gives you |
|-----------|-------------------|
| **Canonical structure** | Role, context+motivation, sequential instructions, XML, few-shot, CoT, output contract, success criteria |
| **Technique selection** | By task type (classification, extraction, generation, coding, reasoning, research, agentic, summarization) and model |
| **Technique index** | All 58 techniques from *The Prompt Report* plus vendor/post-2024 extras |
| **Worked examples** | 7 full draft → optimized → changelog cases |
| **Quality checklist** | Pre-delivery self-review |
| **Evaluation guide** | How to A/B test that the rewrite is actually better |
| **Prompt security** | Defenses against injection/jailbreak |
| **Auto-optimization** | APE, OPRO, DSPy, MIPRO references for when you have an eval set |
## Updating
| Install method | Update command |
|----------------|----------------|
| curl installer | re-run the installer |
| Claude / Copilot plugin | `/plugin update prompt-engineering` |
| Codex symlink | `cd ~/.codex/prompt-engineering-skill && git pull` |
| Gemini extension | `gemini extensions update prompt-engineering` |
## Uninstall
- curl / manual: `rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/prompt-engineering`
- Claude plugin: `/plugin uninstall prompt-engineering`
- Codex: `rm ~/.agents/skills/prompt-engineering`
## Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome. Start with [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) — it covers the dev setup, how the adapters are generated from a single source, and the review process. Please also read the [Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md). Security reports go through [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md).
The skill stays grounded in cited sources: **if you change a technique claim, cite it.**
## Project structure
```
prompt-engineering-skill/
├── plugins/prompt-engineering/ # the Claude Code plugin
│ └── skills/prompt-engineering/ # the skill itself (source of truth)
│ ├── SKILL.md # entry point + workflow
│ ├── references/ # technique catalog, model profiles, examples, etc.
│ └── assets/ # canonical XML template
├── adapters/ # other-tool versions (generated from _core.md)
│ ├── _core.md # single source for the lean adapter body
│ ├── cursor/ windsurf/ copilot/ codex/
│ └── README.md
├── scripts/build-adapters.sh # regenerate adapters from _core.md
├── docs/ # per-platform install guides + website snippets
├── .github/ # CI, issue/PR templates, funding
├── .claude-plugin/marketplace.json # Claude Code / Copilot marketplace
├── .cursor-plugin/plugin.json # native Cursor plugin manifest
├── gemini-extension.json + GEMINI.md # Gemini CLI extension
├── install.sh # one-line curl installer
├── CHANGELOG.md CONTRIBUTING.md CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md SECURITY.md LICENSE
```
## License
[MIT](LICENSE) — free to use, modify, and redistribute with attribution.