Providing examples

Core Concept

• One-shot prompting: Providing a single example in your prompt
• Multi-shot prompting: Providing multiple examples in your prompt
• This is one of the most effective prompt engineering techniques for guiding Claude's behavior

How It Works

• Include sample input-output pairs directly in your prompt
• Wrap examples in XML tags to clearly structure the prompt and distinguish examples from instructions
• Claude learns from these examples and applies the pattern to your actual input

Use Cases

Corner Cases

• Highlight tricky scenarios that Claude might mishandle (e. g. , sarcasm in sentiment analysis)
• Add context explaining what to watch for, then provide an example immediately after
• Helps Claude recognize similar patterns in your actual input

Complex Output Formats

• Show Claude the exact structure you need (e. g. , complex JSON objects)
• Provides a concrete template for the output format

Best Practices

• Use examples from your own eval results—find high-scoring test cases (ideally perfect 10s)
• Include reasoning or explanation of why an example is ideal output
• This reinforces what makes output good and helps Claude understand your standards better

Practical Application

• Extract high-quality input-output pairs from your evaluation results
• Add them to your prompt with clear labels and XML tags
• Include explanatory notes about why each example is ideal
• Rerun evaluations to measure improvement

Takeaways

• One-shot and multi-shot prompting involve providing example input-output pairs in your prompt to guide Claude's behavior
• Wrap examples in XML tags to clearly structure the prompt and help Claude distinguish examples from instructions
• Use high-scoring examples from your own evaluation results (ideally perfect scores) and include reasoning for why they're ideal output
• Include examples of corner cases and tricky scenarios to help Claude recognize and handle similar patterns correctly
• Rerun evaluations after adding examples to measure improvement in Claude's performance