Reference · Glossary

Zero-shot prompting

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Asking the model to do a task **with instructions only** — no example pairs in the prompt.

When to use

Simple, well-known tasks (summarize, translate, explain) where examples aren't worth the tokens.

When not to

Tricky formats or edge cases — few-shot or JSON schema usually helps.

Example

Summarize the email below in 3 bullets for a busy manager.
Email: ...