Prompt
Also: user prompt
The text you send to an AI to tell it what you want. A prompt can be a simple question ("summarize this article"), a detailed instruction ("write a formal email declining this vendor"), or a complex multi-part task. The quality of your prompt directly affects the quality of the response. Writing clear, specific prompts — including what format you want, what the purpose is, and any constraints — is the most practical skill for getting more out of Claude.
In practice
You type "summarize this email in two sentences, keeping the action items" into Claude. That instruction is a prompt. The quality of what you get back is directly shaped by how clearly and specifically you wrote it. A vague prompt ("help with this email") gives a vague result. A specific prompt gives a specific, useful result.
Related concepts