Delimiters
Also called XML tags, separators.
Delimiters are explicit markers, such as XML-style tags, triple quotes, or headings, that separate the parts of a prompt so the model can tell instructions, data, and examples apart.
Description
Vendor guidance recommends delimiters to reduce ambiguity, make outputs easier to parse, and lower the chance that content inside a document is mistaken for an instruction. Tags can also be requested in the output for reliable extraction.
Sources
- Anthropic (2026). Prompting best practices.
- OpenAI (2024). Prompt engineering.
Cite this entry
Protologue. (2026). Delimiters. In Protologue: A Taxonomy of Prompting and LLM Techniques (v1.0.0, PTL-0014). https://protologue.com/t/delimiters/
BibTeX
@misc{protologue_delimiters,
title = {Delimiters},
author = {{Protologue}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Protologue: A Taxonomy of Prompting and LLM Techniques, v1.0.0},
note = {Entry PTL-0014},
url = {https://protologue.com/t/delimiters/}
}