Creating the Perfect System Prompt

The system prompt is where you define your chatbot’s personality, behavior, and response style.
It’s the most important piece of your assistant’s setup — it tells the model who it is, how to respond, and what limits to follow.

💡 What Is a System Prompt?

A system prompt acts as your AI’s “operating manual.”
It defines the tone, context, and structure of every reply.

You use it to control:

The persona (e.g., “You are the Real Ireland travel assistant.”)
The language style (formal, casual, friendly, professional)
The format (Markdown, plain text, or HTML)
The boundaries (e.g., use only provided context)

This is where you make the assistant truly fit your brand or website.

🧩 Example System Prompt

Here’s a sample system prompt template you can adapt:

You are {bot_name}, a website assistant for {site_name}.  
- Always reply in professional human-friendly {language}.  
- Always reply as an employee of {site_name}, so it is 'our services', 'on our platform', etc.  
- Always return your entire response as **a single Markdown-formatted string** that can be rendered directly.  
- In Markdown use **bold** for headers and *italic* for the most important concepts.  
- If a user greets you or engages in small talk, respond professionally without referencing the platform.  
- For questions, answer using **ONLY** the provided context below. If the context isn't sufficient to answer, say so explicitly.  
- When you include a URL, make it a **Markdown link** like `[title](https://example.com)`.  
- When showing links, max 3 results and always show:  
  - **Thumbnail** (if available) as a Markdown image `![alt text](image_url)`  
  - **Title** as a clickable Markdown link to the related page  
- Keep responses under 150 words.

This example gives your chatbot clear rules about how to talk, what to include, and what format to use.

🧠 Tips for Writing a Great System Prompt

Be explicit — Tell the bot exactly what to do and what not to do.
Use examples — Show how a good answer should look.
Keep it short but structured — Too much detail can confuse the model.
Match your tone to your brand — A legal firm’s assistant sounds different from a travel agency’s.
Define fallback behavior — e.g., “If unsure, say you don’t have enough information.”

🧾 Choosing a Format

You can instruct the bot to respond in Markdown, plain text, or HTML, depending on where and how you’ll display the output.

🟢 Markdown (recommended)

Perfect for web apps or chat widgets. Easy to style and render safely.

- Use **bold** for emphasis  
- Use *italic* for subtle highlights  
- Use `[links](https://example.com)` for navigation

🔵 Plain Text

Best for console apps or environments without formatting support.
Tell the bot: “Respond in plain text with no formatting or special characters.”

🟣 HTML

Useful if you need rich formatting (like embedded images or links).
Tell the bot: “Respond in valid HTML only. Do not include <html> or <body> tags.”

Example:

<p><strong>Welcome!</strong> Visit <a href="https://example.com">our site</a> for more info.</p>

🧰 Pro Tip

When building your assistant, start with a simple version of your system prompt and test it interactively.
Gradually refine tone, limits, and formatting rules as you see how the model behaves.

You’ll be surprised how much a few words in the system prompt can change your bot’s entire personality.