benchr

Technique

Put the rule last

Talking to it One line First logged

  1. InA long reference plus your rules
  2. ThenMove the rules below the reference, not above it
  3. OutThe rules stop losing to the document

What the move is

Instructions placed after a long attachment are followed more consistently than the same instructions placed before it. Recency is doing work that emphasis is not.

Why it works

Everything in the window competes. A 40-page document pasted after your two-line brief is 40 pages of newer, more specific evidence about what the answer should look like.

Step by step

  1. Paste or attach the reference material first.
  2. Then write the instruction, in the imperative, at the end.
  3. Repeat the two constraints that matter most in the final sentence.
  4. For a long conversation, re-state them in the message that asks for output, not in the first message.

Paste this

<paste the reference material here>

---
Using only the material above, <the task>.
Two rules: (1) <rule one>. (2) <rule two>.
If the material does not answer something, say so instead of filling the gap.

Make it yours

If you have both standing rules and a one-off request, put the standing rules in the system prompt and keep only the one-off request at the end.

Variations

  • Ask it to repeat the constraints back before answering.
  • Number the constraints so you can refer to 'rule 2' in the next turn.

Works with

Where this leads

When it breaks

Capability