# The Cornetto ice cream cone framework for prompting Prompting still matters, but I'm always skeptical of overly technical and sophisticated frameworks and guides. So here's a sorta simple one, with two mnemonics to help you remember. The Cornette ice cream cone framework for prompting: Cream — the task, the what; Context — the why; Constraints — how to, how not to; Control — the checking loop. A black-and-white cone diagram with a capitalized heading and thin horizontal label lines. I think it's mostly obvious. The important part is that the control part of the prompt is a different system, meaning it doesn't know about the cream, context, and constraints; its only goal is to check the resulting output. This helps with all sorts of hallucinations. I usually use subagents/different AIs with a fresh context window for this, but it can also be static tests in programming or, if you want, a human in the loop as well. The name and image are inspired by the Cornetto ice cream, with the broken-off horn! Cornetto Classico packaging showing an ice cream cone with its chocolate-filled tip broken off and displayed separately. Or you can also call it the **"three C"** or **"four C"** (depending on whether you count the cream or not) framework. -------- If you think you will forget about this anyway, put something like this in the system prompt: ``` # ask for the three c's for medium to big tasks Medium to big tasks are tasks that are not one off, aren't a simple question or something like filling out a form or parsing a pdf, it's building something new or synthesizing multiple things. Research doesn't fall under this. ### context the why ### constraints the how, and the how not ### control (aka, the loop) the controlling, importantly, the control doesn't know about the context and constraints, usually subagents or more static control like red-green tests. ```