Prompt chaining
Breaking a complex task into steps and feeding each output as input to the next prompt, like a pipeline.
Think of it like
Assembly line: raw material → stage 1 → stage 2 → stage 3 → finished product.
Example
"Summarize this article." → "Identify 3 key claims." → "Fact-check each claim using web search." → "Output final verdict."
How it actually works
Chaining works because complex tasks are easier when decomposed. Each step is simpler, reducing errors. Downsides: cost multiplies with steps, and errors in early steps cascade. You can parallelize independent branches or use branching logic (if error, retry; if success, proceed).
For product teams
Improves reliability for multi-stage tasks. Enables workflow automation.
For engineers
Orchestrate with conditional logic. Handle failures and retries. Log intermediate results for debugging.
Related
- Agents — Foundation for agentic workflows.
- Decomposition prompting — Enables decomposition prompting.
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