liveBook · Manning

Failure mode

As explained in Prompt Engineering in Practice

A failure mode is a distinct way in which a system, artifact, or process can produce an incorrect or undesired result.

A prompt can fail in specific, diagnosable ways when one of its components is missing or weakened. Each component has a function, and changing it can change the result. section 1.4

Common prompt-design failures include:

  • Unclear instructions can produce a generic summary instead of an engineering post-incident summary. section 1.4
  • Missing labels around input can blur the boundary between instructions and incident details. section 1.4
  • Unspecified output guidance lets the model choose its own emphasis, making results harder to compare, review, or reuse. section 1.4

How Prompt Engineering in Practice covers it

How deep it goes
Explains partial failures through missing or weakened components, while deferring formal component vocabulary.
Examples
Uses incident reports to contrast generic summaries with engineering post-incident summaries.
What it assumes
Builds an intuitive understanding of prompt structure before naming its components formally.
What you can do after
Diagnose how unclear instructions, unlabeled inputs, or weak output guidance affect results.
How it connects
Connects failure modes to prompt components and prompt templates.
Cover of Prompt Engineering in Practice
liveBookmanning.com
Read Prompt Engineering in Practice on liveBook Get the book at manning.com

Also explained in

Compare how 2 books explain failure mode →

Related concepts

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Prompt Engineering in Practice. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.