# Mistral Models Prompt Guide **Table of Contents** 1. [Give the Model a Clear Purpose](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-1-give-the-model-a-clear-purpose) 2. [Structure Prompts Clearly](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-2-structure-prompts-clearly) 3. [Use Formatting](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-3-use-formatting) 4. [Add examples when Accuracy or Format Matters](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-4-add-examples-when-accuracy-or-format-matters) 5. [Don't Overuse Reasoning](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-5-dont-overuse-reasoning) 6. [Avoid Subjective Words](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-6-avoid-subjective-words) 7. [Avoid Self Count of Words or Characters](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-7-avoid-self-count-of-words-or-characters) 8. [Use Worded Scales over Numeric Scales](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-8-use-worded-scales-over-numeric-scales) 9. [Prompt Templates](https://app.gitbook.com/o/wESD8a1fR7H7ddwkYO61/s/IabFtGTeQzwfWCzp8vd6/~/edit/~/changes/458/for-users/prompt-writing-guide/mistral-models-prompt-guide#id-9-prompt-templates) *** ### 1. Give the Model a Clear Purpose Mistral recommends defining a clear purpose early, often through a simple role-and-task setup like: **“You are a \, your task is to \.”** **Less Effective** ``` Analyze this customer feedback. ``` **More Effective** ``` You are a customer insights analyst. Your task is to review this customer feedback and identify the top 3 recurring complaints. ``` *Tip: Lead with role + task before adding detailed instructions.* *** ### 2) Structure Prompts Clearly Mistral explicitly recommends organizing prompts hierarchically with clear sections and subsections. A good structure often includes: * Context * Task * Instructions or steps * Constraints * Output format **Unclear Prompt** ``` Review this text and tell me what matters. ``` **Clear Prompt** ``` Context: Internal Q2 review for non-technical executives Task: Summarize the document Instructions: Identify the 3 most important insights Remove technical jargon Note any major risks or opportunities Constraints: Keep under 200 words Output Format: 3 bullets only ``` *** ### 3. Use Formatting Formatting is a core prompting tool. It's best to use structures such as markdown and/or XML-style tags because they are readable, parsable, and familiar to models. **Recommended formats:** * Markdown headings * Bullets and numbered steps * XML-style sections like ``, ``, `` **Example** ``` This will be used in a board presentation. Summarize the report for executives. - Use plain language - Keep under 120 words - Output only bullet points ``` *Tip: The more complex the task, the more important formatting becomes.* *** ### 4. Add examples when Accuracy or Format Matters Use example prompting, especially few-shot prompting, when you want better accuracy or tighter control over output format. **This is especially useful for:** * classification * extraction * tagging * JSON outputs * repeated formatting tasks ``` # Task Detect the language of the input text. # Examples Input: Hello, how are you? Output: {"language_iso": "en"} Input: Bonjour, comment allez-vous? Output: {"language_iso": "fr"} ``` **Tip:** If output structure matters, show the model at least one example of the exact format you want. *** ### 5. Don't Overuse Reasoning For simple rewriting, extraction, formatting, or short summaries, a well-structured prompt is usually enough. **Use reasoning for:** * math * coding * multi-step logic * difficult comparisons * edge-case-heavy decisions *** ### 6. Avoid Subjective Words Words like “too long,” “interesting,” “better,” “some,” or “a few” are vague. Mistral recommends replacing them with objective measures. **Instead of:** Make it shorter\ **Use:** Keep it under 120 words *** ### 7. Avoid Self Count of Words or Characters Mistral advises against relying on the model to calculate thresholds itself. If length matters operationally, pass the count in as data instead. *** ### 8. Use Worded Scales over Numeric Scales For evaluations, Mistral recommends labels like Very Low, Low, Neutral, Good, Very Good instead of a raw 1–5 scale. *** ### 9. Prompt Templates #### General Task Template ``` System: You are a [role]. Your task is to [goal]. User: ## Context [Background and audience] ## Task [Exactly what you want done] ## Instructions 1. [Step one] 2. [Step two] 3. [Step three] ## Constraints - [Tone] - [Length] - [What to avoid] ## Output Format [Bullets, table, JSON, paragraph, etc.] ``` #### Few Shot Template ``` System: You are a [role]. Follow the examples exactly. User: ## Task Classify each input into one category. ## Categories - Positive - Neutral - Negative ## Examples Input: "This product is amazing." Output: Positive Input: "It arrived yesterday." Output: Neutral Input: "It broke after one use." Output: Negative ## New Input [Insert text here] ## Output Format Return only the category. ``` #### Structured Output Template ``` System: You are an extraction assistant. User: ## Task Extract the key details from the text. ## Fields - company - product - launch_date - summary ## Constraints - Return valid JSON only - Use null if a field is missing - Do not add extra keys ```