Method · Differentiator · Forward-thinking
Prompt as Discourse
The prompt is not the trick; the discourse boundary is the product
A method for designing prompts as language systems with boundaries, evidence rules, exclusions, and intended speech acts.
Prompting as speech-act design
The prompt is not the trick. The discourse boundary is the product. Designing a prompt means deciding what kind of utterance the model is allowed to produce: an explanation, a citation, a refusal, a question back. The shape of the utterance is the feature.
Evidentiality and uncertainty
Specify what evidence is allowed, what must be cited, and how uncertainty surfaces. A model that hedges everything is as useless as one that hedges nothing; the rule is what makes the answer trustable.
Exclusions as product requirements
The exclusions are not afterthoughts. They are requirements. Saying this assistant does not give legal advice is the same kind of statement as this dropdown does not allow these values: a constraint that defines the product's surface.
Invitation surfaces for agents
Give models explicit invitation surfaces and boundaries: llms.txt, guestbook instructions, role framing in system prompts. Agents that visit a site need the same affordances a person needs — what the place is, what's welcome, what's off-limits.
