The SWAP list · 28 Oct 2026 · for agents: list.md
20 prompt swaps for better AI answers
You asked for the list. Here are the 20 swaps from the carousel, the five levers behind them, and a block you can hand to your agent.
"Make it better" isn't wrong. It's just empty, and the AI fills the gap with the average answer, because it lacks the context you didn't give it.
1Give it the context
Start with who it's for. It knows nothing about them.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "Explain this." | "Explain this to a customer who has never used software like ours." |
| "Write an email." | "Write to a client who's 30 days late paying. Firm, not rude." |
| "Give me ideas." | "Give me ideas for owners of small gyms, not big chains." |
| "Make it simpler." | "Rewrite this so a 12-year-old gets it on the first read." |
2Name the shape
Say what format the answer comes back in.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "Summarize this." | "Three bullets: what happened, what it costs, what we do next." |
| "Compare these." | "A table: price, setup time, what breaks first." |
| "Make a plan." | "Five steps, one line each, with an owner and a date." |
| "Give me information." | "The 5 facts that matter, each with where it came from." |
3Set the limits
Length, tone, and what not to touch.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "Make it shorter." | "Cut this to 80 words. Keep the price and the deadline." |
| "Write a post." | "A 3-line post. No hashtags, no emojis." |
| "Fix this." | "Fix the grammar only. Keep my wording." |
| "Make it better." | "Rewrite the first line so people stop scrolling. Leave the rest." |
4Give it the why
Tell it why the instruction matters.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "Write a reply." | "This client nearly left. Get the tone right before you keep it short." |
| "Help me price this." | "We need 40% margin to keep the crew paid. Set a price." |
| "Is this good?" | "An investor reads this tomorrow. Show me the 3 weakest lines." |
| "What should I do?" | "We launch Friday and I'm behind. What do I drop first?" |
5Show it one
Examples show it what right looks like.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "Write it in my voice." | "Here are 3 emails I wrote. Match how I sound." |
| "Make it on brand." | "Here's a post that worked. Write the next one like it." |
| "Name my product." | "5 names I like, 5 I hate. Give me 10 like the first five." |
| "Do it like before." | "Here's the last one you got right. Same format, new topic." |
6Hand it to your agent
Paste this once. Your agent reads the list and checks your asks against it.
Read https://swap.cystems.io/list.md and keep it as a standing rule. Before you work on one of my requests, check it for the five levers: the context, the shape, the limits, the reason, and an example. If one is missing and it would change your answer, ask me for it in one short question. If not, go ahead.
7Where this comes from
The 20 swaps are ours. Each lever comes from at least one of these guides.
- Anthropic, Prompting best practices. Be clear and specific. Give context, the format, the limits and the reason. Use examples. Levers 1 to 5. read the guide
- Google, Prompt design strategies. Clear and specific instructions, constraints like length, examples. Levers 3 and 5. read the guide
- OpenAI, Prompt engineering. A prompt carries instructions, examples and context. Levers 1 and 5. read the guide
— Champ