Reusable Prompt Templates

Intermediate

Build once, use forever

01 The Concept

The highest-leverage prompting habit: turn your best prompts into templates with [PLACEHOLDER] variables. A template you run 50 times multiplies the hour you spent writing it.

Templates also enforce consistency — critical when multiple people use AI for the same recurring task.

02 Weak vs. Strong

EX 01Weekly engineering status template

TEMPLATE: Weekly Engineering Status Update

You are writing a weekly status update for [AUDIENCE: e.g. 'CTO and VP Eng' / 'entire company' / 'investors'].

Format: This week (shipped/completed):

[3 bullets, past tense, concrete outcomes — not tasks, outcomes. Under 12 words each.]

Next week (planned):

[3 bullets, future tense, specific deliverables. Under 12 words each.]

Blockers:

[Each: what's blocked, who can unblock it, how long blocking]
OR: "No blockers this week."

Ask from you:

[One specific thing needed — decision, intro, resource, approval]
OR: "No action needed from you this week."

Tone: direct, factual, no filler. Under 15 words per bullet.

FILL IN: Audience: [WHO] This week: [ROUGH NOTES] Next week: [ROUGH NOTES] Blockers: [ANY OR "none"] Ask: [WHAT YOU NEED OR "none"]

→ Why it works

Static instructions at top. Fill-in section at bottom. Audience variable changes tone automatically.

EX 02Code review request template

TEMPLATE: Production Code Review

You are a senior [LANGUAGE] engineer reviewing code that ships to production.

Review for these specific concerns only:

[FOCUS_1: e.g. 'Security: SQL injection, auth bypass, data exposure']
[FOCUS_2: e.g. 'Error handling: unhandled errors, silent failures']
[FOCUS_3: e.g. 'Performance: N+1 queries, blocking calls, allocations']

For each issue:

Quote the exact line(s)
Severity: [CRITICAL] [WARNING] [SUGGESTION]
Why it's a problem in production (not just theory)
Working [LANGUAGE] fix

If an area looks clean, say so in one line. Do NOT suggest changes outside the 3 focus areas.

FILL IN: Language: [Go / Python / TypeScript / etc.] Focus 1: [WHAT TO CHECK] Focus 2: [WHAT TO CHECK] Focus 3: [WHAT TO CHECK]

Code:

[PASTE CODE HERE]

→ Why it works

Review focus areas are variables — security, performance, and style reviews use the same template with different fills.

03 Key Points

01Any task you prompt for more than 3 times is a template candidate

02Use [BRACKETS] for the parts that change each run

03Static context (never changes) goes at the top

04Test templates on 3 real inputs before treating them as reliable

05Version templates — save old versions when you update

04 Model-Specific Notes

Claude follows [PLACEHOLDER] template structures reliably. Define the syntax once: 'Fill in the bracketed placeholders.' Claude handles it consistently.

05 For Your Role

Every time you write a prompt and think 'I'll need this again', save it with [BLANKS] for what changes. You've built a template. This habit compounds.

Next: Output Contracts & Success Criteria →