Briefle words · Prompt craft
Constraints
Fixed limits the result must stay within, such as length, budget, deadline, tools or things it must or must not include.
Say it to an AI
Plan 3 days in Lisbon in May for me and my mum. Constraints: €500 total for both of us excluding flights and hotel, no car, and no steep walking (she can't manage hills), so use trams, trains and taxis. Show a cost estimate per day.
How an expert would brief the stronger version of “City break itinerary”.
See it
Try it as a puzzle →Someone asks an AI assistant to plan a short trip to Lisbon with their mum.
Why: A sets three: 'Max €500 for both of us', 'No car' and 'she can't manage steep hills'. B sets none.
More ways experts use it
Add recipe search to our Next.js + Postgres app (~40k recipes). Constraints, not up for debate: stay on Postgres, no new paid services or servers, ships this sprint. Give me the implementation steps, not a comparison of search engines.
Adding search to an app · Prompt craftDraft kickoff notes for a school reading-log web app. Besides goal, users and core flow, state the constraints explicitly: $18k budget, live by Jan 8, web-only on district laptops, and student data stays in the district. Leave nice-to-have ideas out of scope for now.
Kickoff whiteboard · Product & specs
Related words
Room 1 · Essentials
Learn “Constraints” in a five-minute lesson