Prompt Template
Also called prompt scaffold.
A prompt template is a reusable prompt with placeholder variables that are filled in at run time, separating the fixed instructions from the per-request data.
Description
Templates make prompts testable and versionable, and they are the unit optimized by frameworks such as DSPy. Keeping untrusted data in clearly delimited slots also supports defenses against prompt injection.
Sources
- Schulhoff et al. (2024). The Prompt Report: A Systematic Survey of Prompt Engineering Techniques.
Cite this entry
Protologue. (2026). Prompt Template. In Protologue: A Taxonomy of Prompting and LLM Techniques (v1.0.0, PTL-0013). https://protologue.com/t/prompt-template/
BibTeX
@misc{protologue_prompt_template,
title = {Prompt Template},
author = {{Protologue}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Protologue: A Taxonomy of Prompting and LLM Techniques, v1.0.0},
note = {Entry PTL-0013},
url = {https://protologue.com/t/prompt-template/}
}