// MODEL OPTIMIZATION AND PROMPT SYNTAX TERM
Meta Prompt
A prompt that instructs the AI model on how to interpret or process subsequent prompts, essentially a "prompt about prompts."
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
A meta prompt is an initial, overarching instruction provided to a large language model (LLM) that defines its role, constraints, or the processing logic it should apply to all subsequent user inputs, establishing a conversational context or system-level directive.
BACKGROUND
Prompt engineering is the process of structuring natural language inputs to produce specified outputs from a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) model. Context engineering is the related area of software engineering that focuses on the management of non-prompt contexts supplied to the GenAI model, such as metadata, API tools, and tokens.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- System prompt
- Overarching instruction
- Foundational prompt
- Master prompt
USAGE NOTE
Meta prompts are often used to set the persona or overall behavior of an AI assistant for an entire conversation.