Posted 11/12/2025

General “Prompt Structure” for Clear Results

A good prompt follows a simple structure — it’s basically context + task + constraints + output format and optionaly tone/style.

Prompt Template

Example

• Role/Context: [Who is asking, e.g., QA engineer testing an API]
• Goal: [What do you want to achieve]
• Details: [System, framework, method, data, environment]
• Constraints: [Number of cases, coverage level, edge cases, etc.]
• Output format: [Gherkin / JSON / test code / summary]
• Tone/style: [Concise / detailed / expert / educational]

Copy

Role/Context:
Goal: 
Details:
Constraints:
Output format:
Tone/Style:

Context

Give the AI background so it knows who it’s helping and what the goal is.

“You are a QA engineer testing a web application with an authentication API.” or “I am a QA engineer working on a Playwright test suite for a shopping cart.”

✅ Why it matters: context sets tone and domain expectations (test cases vs essays).

Task

Say exactly what you want the AI to do, using an action verb. Use clear verbs like:

• “Generate”
• “Explain”
• “List”
• “Summarize”
• “Convert”

“Generate test cases for the login feature.”
“Explain why this test might fail intermittently.”
“List possible negative test scenarios for registration.”

Details (Input Data or Constraints)

• Add specifics that narrow down the response.
• Input details: URL, API spec, body, steps, scenario
• Tools/framework: Postman, Playwright, C#, Jest
• Desired scope: positive/negative/edge
• Environment or assumptions: “assume staging server with test users”

“Use the OpenAPI spec below.”
“Use Playwright with TypeScript.”
“Include 3 positive and 2 negative scenarios.”

Output Format

Specify exactly what the response should look like. If you don’t, AI might produce verbose explanations.

“Output only Gherkin scenarios.”
“Output as a JSON array of test cases.”
“Output code ready to copy into a Jest test file.”

Optional: Role + Tone

This is underrated — telling the AI how to think.

“Act as a senior QA automation engineer.”
“Think step by step.”
“Be concise and structured.”

Example: Bad vs Good Prompt (QA Use Case)

❌ Bad Prompt

“Write some tests for login.”

✅ Good Prompt

“You are a QA automation engineer.
Generate 5 test cases for the POST /api/login endpoint.
Include both positive and negative cases (e.g., valid credentials, invalid password, missing fields).
Output in Gherkin format, no explanations.”