22 Prompt Techniques

Research-backed prompt engineering patterns that enhance any AI tool. Preview the enhanced prompt before execution. Composable building blocks for better thinking.

What Are Prompt Techniques?

Prompt techniques are structured patterns that transform your question into a more effective prompt before sending it to an AI model. Instead of writing "analyze this code", a technique like first_principles rewrites your prompt to guide the AI through: identify fundamental truths, question assumptions, break down to atomic components, and rebuild from scratch.

TachiBot includes 22 research-backed techniques organized into 9 categories. Each technique can be applied to any AI tool (Grok, Gemini, GPT, Qwen, Kimi, Perplexity).

The three-tool workflow:

Discover — list_prompt_techniques shows all 22 techniques by category
Preview — preview_prompt_technique shows the enhanced prompt WITHOUT executing
Execute — execute_prompt_technique runs the tool with the enhanced prompt

Why Use Prompt Techniques?

Why not just write a good prompt yourself?

You can. But prompt techniques encode research-backed patterns that are hard to remember and tedious to write manually every time. They're like functions for thinking — reusable, composable, and consistent. Preview before execution means you always know exactly what's being sent.

Transparent — Preview shows exactly how your prompt is enhanced. No hidden magic.
Composable — Apply any technique to any tool. Chain techniques for complex analysis.
Research-backed — Based on published prompt engineering research (chain-of-thought, tree-of-thoughts, self-consistency, etc.)
Reusable — Same technique works across all 35+ tools
Zero overhead — Three simple tools. No configuration files needed.

How to Use

Step 1: Discover Techniques

Step 2: Preview Enhanced Prompt

Step 3: Execute

All 22 Techniques

Creative (4 techniques)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`what_if`	—	Explore wild possibilities without constraints
`alt_view`	`perspectives`	Analyze from 5 angles: child, scientist, artist, strategist, futurist
`creative_use`	`applications`	Find cross-domain creative applications
`innovate`	`solutions`	Generate 3+ unconventional approaches

Research (2 techniques)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`investigate`	`5w1h`	Who/What/When/Where/Why/How analysis
`evidence`	`facts`	Support, contradict, cases, statistics, expert opinions

Analytical (3 techniques)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`analyze`	`systematic`	Components, relationships, patterns, conclusions
`first_principles`	`first_prin`	Truths, assumptions, atomic, rebuild from scratch
`feasibility`	`feasible`	Technical / economic / time / resources / risks assessment

Reflective (4 techniques)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`reflect`	—	Patterns, surprises, key insight, gaps
`patterns`	`connections`	Themes, causality, cycles, anomalies
`decompose`	`breakdown`	Core, sub-problems, dependencies, steps
`integrate`	`synthesize`	Convergent themes, contradictions, meta-pattern

Reasoning (3 techniques)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`chain_of_thought`	`step_by_step`	Identify, breakdown, logic, conclude
`tree_of_thoughts`	`explore_paths`	3 paths, explore, evaluate, prune, synthesize
`graph_of_thoughts`	`idea_map`	Map as graph (nodes=ideas, edges=connections)

Verification (2 techniques)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`self_consistency`	`consensus`	3 solutions, compare, vote, explain confidence
`constitutional`	`principles`	Solve, critique (accuracy/safety/helpfulness), revise

Meta (1 technique)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`meta_prompting`	`improve_prompt`	Write a better prompt first, then solve with it

Debate (2 techniques)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`adversarial`	`critic`	Argue FOR then AGAINST, synthesize
`persona_simulation`	`debate`	Simulate expert debate: skeptic, optimist, pragmatist, visionary

Judgment (1 technique)

Technique	Aliases	What It Does
`council_of_experts`	`judge`	Multi-model council: gather, extract best, consensus, resolve, synthesize

Practical Examples

Example: Architecture Decision

Exploring multiple approaches with tree_of_thoughts

Use tree_of_thoughts to explore multiple architecture paths, evaluate each, and synthesize the best approach.

Example: Code Review

Example: Research with Verification

Compatible Tools

Prompt techniques work with any of these 20+ tools:

Provider	Tools
Grok (xAI)	`grok_reason`, `grok_code`, `grok_debug`, `grok_architect`, `grok_brainstorm`, `grok_search`
Gemini (Google)	`gemini_brainstorm`, `gemini_analyze_code`, `gemini_analyze_text`
GPT (OpenAI)	`openai_reason`, `openai_brainstorm`
Perplexity	`perplexity_ask`, `perplexity_reason`, `perplexity_research`
OpenRouter	`qwen_coder`, `qwen_algo`, `kimi_thinking`

Tools Reference

Tool	Purpose	Key Parameters
`list_prompt_techniques`	Browse all 22 techniques	`filter` (category or "all")
`preview_prompt_technique`	See enhanced prompt	`technique`, `tool`, `query`
`execute_prompt_technique`	Run with enhanced prompt	`execution_token` or `technique`+`tool`+`query`

Next Steps

Explore more TachiBot capabilities

Planner

Multi-model verified implementation plans

Explore Tools

See all 35+ available tools

Workflows

Chain tools into multi-step orchestrations