Customization Before executing, check for user customizations at: ~/.claude/PAI/USER/SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Prompting/ If this directory exists, load and apply any PREFERENCES.md, configurations, or resources found there. These override default behavior. If the directory does not exist, proceed with skill defaults. 🚨 MANDATORY: Voice Notification (REQUIRED BEFORE ANY ACTION) You MUST send this notification BEFORE doing anything else when this skill is invoked. Send voice notification : curl -s -X POST http://localhost:8888/notify \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"message": "Running the WORKFLOWNAME workflow in the Prompting skill to ACTION"}' \

/dev/null 2

&1 & Output text notification : Running the WorkflowName workflow in the Prompting skill to ACTION... This is not optional. Execute this curl command immediately upon skill invocation. Prompting - Meta-Prompting & Template System Invoke when: meta-prompting, template generation, prompt optimization, programmatic prompt composition, creating dynamic agents, generating structured prompts from data. Overview The Prompting skill owns ALL prompt engineering concerns: Standards - Anthropic best practices, Claude 4.x patterns, empirical research Templates - Handlebars-based system for programmatic prompt generation Tools - Template rendering, validation, and composition utilities Patterns - Reusable prompt primitives and structures This is the "standard library" for prompt engineering - other skills reference these resources when they need to generate or optimize prompts. Core Components 1. Standards.md Complete prompt engineering documentation based on: Anthropic's Claude 4.x Best Practices (November 2025) Context engineering principles The Fabric prompt pattern system 1,500+ academic papers on prompt optimization Key Topics: Markdown-first design (NO XML tags) Usage Examples Example 1: Using Briefing Template (Agent Skill) // skills/Agents/Tools/ComposeAgent.ts import { renderTemplate } from '~/.claude/skills/Utilities/Prompting/Tools/RenderTemplate.ts' ; const prompt = renderTemplate ( 'Primitives/Briefing.hbs' , { briefing : { type : 'research' } , agent : { id : 'EN-1' , name : 'Skeptical Thinker' , personality : { ... } } , task : { description : 'Analyze security architecture' , questions : [ ... ] } , output_format : { type : 'markdown' } } ) ; Example 2: Using Structure Template (Workflow)

Data: phased-analysis.yaml

phases

:

-

name

:

Discovery

purpose

:

Identify attack surface

steps

:

-

action

:

Map entry points

instructions

:

List all external interfaces

...

-

name

:

Analysis

purpose

:

Assess vulnerabilities

steps

:

-

action

:

Test boundaries

instructions

:

Probe each entry point

...

bun run RenderTemplate.ts

\

--template

Primitives/Structure.hbs

\

--data

phased-analysis.yaml

Example 3: Custom Agent with Voice Mapping

// Generate specialized agent with appropriate voice

const

agent

=

composeAgent

(

[

'security'

,

'skeptical'

,

'thorough'

]

,

task

,

traits

)

;

// Returns:

Integration with Other Skills

Agents Skill

Uses

Templates/Primitives/Briefing.hbs

for agent context handoff

Uses

RenderTemplate.ts

to compose dynamic agents

Maintains agent-specific template:

Agents/Templates/DynamicAgent.hbs

Evals Skill

Uses eval-specific templates: Judge, Rubric, TestCase, Comparison, Report

Leverages

RenderTemplate.ts

for eval prompt generation

Eval templates may be stored in

Evals/Templates/

but use Prompting's engine

Development Skill

References

Standards.md

for prompt best practices

Uses

Structure.hbs

for workflow patterns

Applies

Gate.hbs

for validation checklists

Token Efficiency

The templating system eliminated

~35,000 tokens (65% reduction)

across PAI:

Area

Before

After

Savings

SKILL.md Frontmatter

20,750

8,300

60%

Agent Briefings

6,400

1,900

70%

Voice Notifications

6,225

725

88%

Workflow Steps

7,500

3,000

60%

TOTAL

~53,000

~18,000

65%

Best Practices

1. Separation of Concerns

Templates

Structure and formatting only

Data

Content and parameters (YAML/JSON)

Logic

Rendering and validation (TypeScript) 2. Keep Templates Simple Avoid complex logic in templates Use Handlebars helpers for transformations Business logic belongs in TypeScript, not templates 3. DRY Principle Extract repeated patterns into partials Use presets for common configurations Single source of truth for definitions 4. Version Control Templates and data in separate files Track changes independently Enable A/B testing of structures References Primary Documentation: Standards.md - Complete prompt engineering guide Templates/README.md - Template system overview (if preserved) Tools/RenderTemplate.ts - Implementation details Research Foundation: Anthropic: "Claude 4.x Best Practices" (November 2025) Anthropic: "Effective Context Engineering for AI Agents" Anthropic: "Prompt Templates and Variables" The Fabric System (January 2024) "The Prompt Report" - arXiv:2406.06608 "The Prompt Canvas" - arXiv:2412.05127