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Prompt Coach

Context in prompts: the details that change the answer

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Ask a friend “What laptop should I buy?” and the best they can do is a generic list. Tell them your budget, that you edit video, and that you travel every week, and suddenly the advice is useful.

AI works the same way. Context is the part of a prompt people skip most often, and it’s the part that changes the answer most.

What counts as context

Everything you know that the AI doesn’t:

  • Who you are: your business, your role, how much you know about the topic.
  • Who it’s for: customers, your manager, a grant committee, yourself.
  • What it’s for: a pitch, a newsletter, a decision you need to make.
  • What you’ve tried: and why it didn’t work.
  • What you’re working with: budget, time, tools, files.

How much is enough

You don’t need an essay. Three to five concrete facts cover most tasks. Compare:

Give me marketing ideas.
I run a dog-walking service in a mid-size town. Most clients find me
through neighbors. I have 40 regular clients and room for 15 more.
I don't want to pay for ads, and I'm not comfortable filming videos.

The second version rules out paid ads and TikTok, and points the AI toward referrals, local partnerships and community boards. Five sentences, completely different advice.

Explain the “why” behind your rules

A rule without a reason gets followed literally. A rule with a reason gets understood, and applied to cases you didn’t think of.

  • Without the why: “Don’t use exclamation points.”
  • With the why: “Don’t use exclamation points. Our customers are hospital administrators and we want to sound calm and credible.”

With the second version, the AI will also tone down hype words and emojis, even though you never mentioned them.

The context people forget

The audience. Writing for someone who already trusts you is different from writing for a stranger. Say who will read it.

Your level. If you want something explained, say what you already know. “Total beginner” and “I know the basics” lead to very different explanations.

What already failed. Otherwise you’ll get your failed idea recommended back to you.

Where to put it

When you include long material (a contract, a report, a transcript), put it first and your question last. With long inputs, models tend to do better in that order. For Claude specifically, wrapping documents in tags helps; see prompting Claude.

Let the AI ask you

Not sure which details matter? End your prompt with: “If anything important is missing, ask me up to three questions before you start.” That’s exactly how the coach works: it asks about your situation and your audience before building the prompt.

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