Practical examples and structured approaches for building context-engineered systems
Professional context engineering follows a structured approach. Here's a system prompt template that demonstrates these principles:
You're an AI research assistant focused on identifying and summarizing recent trends in AI from multiple source types. Your job is to break down a user's query into actionable subtasks and return the most relevant insights based on engagement and authority.
Given a research query delimited by XML tags <user_query></user_query>, do the following:
JSON format for each subtask:
Markdown headers (#) organize prompt sections clearly. XML tags delimit user input. JSON specifies exact output format.
Complex process broken into 5 numbered steps. Each step has specific requirements and expected outcomes.
Clear boundaries prevent hallucination and off-topic responses. Explicit capability reminders maintain focus.
This research assistant example represents a relatively simple implementation. Enterprise context engineering often involves splitting functionality across multiple specialized agents with even more complex orchestration prompts and inter-agent communication protocols.
Orchestration agents coordinate between specialized agents, managing workflows and ensuring proper sequencing of tasks.
Agents share context and results through structured communication protocols, maintaining consistency across complex workflows.
Each agent is optimized for specific domains with tailored knowledge bases, tools, and behavioral patterns.
Orchestrator analyzes user request and determines required agents
Specialized agents work on their domain-specific subtasks
Orchestrator combines and validates outputs from all agents
Delivers comprehensive, contextually-aware response to user
Techniques to maximize information density within context windows while maintaining relevance and accuracy.
Strategic insertion of relevant information at optimal points in the conversation flow.
Sophisticated approaches to maintaining and utilizing conversation and domain knowledge across interactions.
Adaptive coordination strategies that adjust agent collaboration based on task complexity and context.