Free Prompt Engineering Course With Four Practical Lessons
Finish with a reusable prompt, an error log and a checked final answer. All four lessons and answer explanations are available here; no certificate is offered.
Turn a vague request into a brief with an observable result.
Understand the idea
Before asking a model for help, name the input, intended reader and output. Add a check that would let you reject an incorrect answer. For this course, use the fictional notes in each lesson; you do not need to share work data. You can complete the writing and review exercises without an AI account. If you use a tool, save its actual responses separately from the authored reference examples below.
Example
Vague request: “Help me prepare for the workshop.” Source note: “Sam owns the slides. The workshop date is not set.” A checkable brief is: “Turn these notes into an internal task table with task, owner and due date. Preserve missing dates as not set.” The reference row is “Prepare slides | Sam | Not set.” The source does not authorize assigning a workshop date or asking Sam to book a room.
Write your task brief
Write a brief for turning the example note into a task table. Include the reader, the three required columns and a rule for the absent date. Before checking the answer below, write one failure that would make you reject the output. Compare your brief with the sample prompt; equivalent wording is fine if it preserves these requirements.
Try this prompt
Turn this note into an internal task table for the workshop coordinator. Use columns Task, Owner and Due date. Use only the note; write Not set for a missing date. Note: Sam owns the slides. The workshop date is not set.
Check your understanding
Keep in mind
Name an output you can inspect before you write the prompt.
Keep an absent decision visible instead of asking the model to guess.
Lesson 2 of 4
Preserve facts and missing information
Separate a supported detail from an attractive but unsupported promise.
Understand the idea
A draft can change the wording while changing the meaning. Check each factual statement against the input, including dates, owners and commitments. An instruction to be helpful does not supply missing evidence. This lesson uses a delivery note to make the distinction between a future check and a delivery promise explicit.
Example
Source: “Order B12 is delayed. The team can check the carrier status on Monday. No delivery date is available.” A reference reply is: “Order B12 is delayed. We do not have a delivery date yet, but we can check the carrier status on Monday.” The statement “Your order will arrive Monday” fails because Monday is the check date. These sample replies were written for the exercise, not captured from a model.
Mark each claim before sending
Review this draft: “Your order B12 will arrive Monday, and we have refunded the delivery fee.” List both unsupported claims. Rewrite the reply using only the source, then add a prompt rule that would help a reviewer identify invented commitments. The answer key is: Monday delivery is unsupported, and a refund is never mentioned. A corrected reply should keep the delayed status and the Monday status check without promising either delivery or compensation.
Try this prompt
Draft one customer-facing paragraph from this source only: Order B12 is delayed. The team can check the carrier status on Monday. No delivery date is available. Do not treat a status-check date as a delivery date. Do not add compensation. After the paragraph, list each factual claim with the source words that support it; keep this checklist separate from the customer message.
Check your understanding
Keep in mind
Check what each commitment means; seeing a date in the source isn't enough.
A request for supporting quotes still needs your comparison with the original note.
Lesson 3 of 4
Test a revision without hiding regressions
Compare two prompt versions on the same cases and keep the failures visible.
Understand the idea
Write acceptance criteria before changing the prompt. Run the same cases with the original and revised instructions, keeping the source and tool settings unchanged where possible. Start fresh conversations so previous replies do not supply hidden context. Record settings you cannot see as unavailable. A better result on one case does not prove that the revised prompt works on every input.
Example
Use two notes: A says “Mina submits the draft Tuesday”; B says “Mina submits the draft; no date agreed.” Both need task, owner and due date columns. The reference dates are Tuesday for A and Not agreed for B. A rule that makes every due date Not agreed fixes an invented date in B but breaks A. This is a regression: a change causes a previously correct case to fail.
Create a two-case error log
Write an initial prompt for the two notes and define the expected date for each before running it. Save each response. If an error occurs, change one relevant instruction and rerun both notes. Record prompt version, input, actual answer and pass or fail for every run. If both answers are already correct, change the second note to an explicit Friday deadline and test whether the prompt uses the new evidence. Do not invent an error to make the exercise look complete.
Try this prompt
Extract a task table with Task, Owner and Due date from the note below. Copy an explicit due date; if none is stated, write Not agreed. Do not infer a deadline from any other context. Note: [paste one test note here].
Check your understanding
Keep in mind
Rerun cases that already worked when you change a prompt.
Describe results as outcomes on the recorded cases, not a general reliability percentage.
Lesson 4 of 4
Complete a handoff prompt and review its answer
Produce your own prompt and assess the result against a reference checklist.
Understand the idea
Your final submission is a prompt, its output and a review. It is complete when the output matches the source and the review identifies any remaining unknowns. You may write the output yourself or obtain it from an AI tool; label which you used. This is a practice assignment with a self-check, not a professional certification or a claim that you are ready to automate customer-facing actions.
Example
Final source: “Noor drafts the launch email. Luis approves the wording by Wednesday. The send date is undecided. Sending must wait for Luis's approval.” A valid task table distinguishes drafting, approval and sending. Noor owns the draft, Luis owns approval with a Wednesday deadline, and the sender remains unassigned. Wednesday must not become the send date.
Submit and check your handoff table
Write a prompt that requests Task, Owner, Due date and Dependency columns. Produce the table, then check five requirements: Noor owns drafting; Luis owns approval; Wednesday applies only to approval; the sending owner and date remain unknown; sending waits for approval. Correct every failed requirement and save the original plus corrected table. For the transfer test, replace the final sentence with “Sending must wait for legal approval, which has no assigned reviewer.” Revise the dependency and keep the legal reviewer unknown; do not silently assign that role to Luis.
Try this prompt
Turn the following note into a handoff table with Task, Owner, Due date and Dependency columns. Preserve explicit roles and deadlines. Write Not assigned or Not decided for missing owners or dates. Do not perform any action. Note: Noor drafts the launch email. Luis approves the wording by Wednesday. The send date is undecided. Sending must wait for Luis's approval.
Check your understanding
Keep in mind
Keep the prompt, original answer and corrected answer together as your practice evidence.
Continue with the evaluation guide to add conflicting and adversarial cases before reusing a prompt at work.
Frequently asked questions
Is the full course available on the web?
Yes. All four lessons exercises and answer explanations are available on this page without an account.
Do I need access to an AI tool?
No. You can complete the exercises from the authored examples. If you use a tool save its response separately and compare it with the source and acceptance checks.
Does the course include a certificate?
No. It is a practical self-study course and does not issue or promise a professional certificate.
