Hard Prompt

Hard Prompt is a discrete, human-readable text instruction composed of natural language tokens that directly guides AI model behavior without requiring additional training or parameter modification. This approach uses explicit, interpretable instructions written in plain text format that can be easily read, edited, and understood by humans. Hard prompts contrast with soft prompts by utilizing actual words and phrases rather than continuous embedding vectors, making them accessible to non-technical users and enabling rapid iteration through manual editing. The technique encompasses various formats including system messages, user instructions, few-shot examples, and structured templates that shape model responses through clear linguistic direction. Hard prompts offer transparency, interpretability, and immediate deployment capabilities, making them the predominant approach for most AI applications where prompt engineering requires human oversight, debugging, and iterative refinement.