ICC Prompt Formula ← All Skills
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Prompts 💚 Cheap · ~$0.001 / rewrite 2,104 downloads

Three parts. Every prompt. Instantly better.

Rewrites any vague prompt using the three-part ICC formula: Instructions, Context, Constraints — the fastest upgrade for anyone using AI daily.

ICC Prompt Formula

🤖 Recommended Models

This skill runs on any capable model. Pick based on your volume and budget.

ModelBest ForCostQuality
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Recommended Sharpest rewrites, catches subtle gaps ~$0.001 ★★★★★
GPT-5.4 Mini Budget, fast for simple rewrites <$0.001 ★★★★☆
Gemini 2.5 Flash High volume, batch prompt improvement <$0.001 ★★★★☆

💰 Cost Estimate

💚 Near-Free Tier
< $0.001
per prompt rewrite, any model
2,104downloads
3 partsICC formula
<1srewrite time
This is one of the cheapest skills to run — prompt rewrites are short. The ROI comes from the time and frustration saved in every subsequent AI interaction that uses the improved prompt.

How It Works

Apply this formula once and you'll use it on every prompt you write for the rest of your AI life.

01

Instructions — the what

One clear, imperative sentence. Verb first. "Write a follow-up email." "Summarise this meeting transcript." "Analyse these five competitors." If your instruction is a question or contains "can you", rewrite it as a command. Weak: "Can you help me with my email?" Strong: "Write a follow-up email to a prospect who went silent after an initial call."

02

Context — the background

Everything the AI needs to understand the situation: your role, their role, the relationship, the objective, the history. The research is clear: a full context dump (2-5 sentences) consistently outperforms a one-liner. You cannot give too much context. "I'm a freelance designer, the client is a mid-size SaaS company, we had a kick-off call last Tuesday and they seemed engaged but I haven't heard back in 5 days."

03

Constraints — the rules

Format, tone, length, style. What the AI must always do. What it must never do. Be explicit. "Max 3 sentences. No jargon. Warm, not pushy. End with a single clear call-to-action." Constraints transform an AI output from generic to exactly what you needed.

04

Optional — output example

Paste one example of the format or style you want. Even a single sentence. This is the single biggest quality multiplier after the three parts — the model does format-matching, not just instruction-following. "Something like: Hey [name], just circling back on our conversation last week..."

Before & After Examples

Without skill
Vague prompt:
"Help me write a cold email for my consulting business."

Generic output:
"Hi [Name], I'm reaching out because I noticed [Company] might benefit from my consulting services. I specialise in [area] and have helped companies like yours achieve [result]. Would love to connect — are you free for a quick call?"

Total send-to-reply rate: ~0.5%.
With skill
ICC-rewritten prompt:
Instructions: Write a cold outreach email to a Head of Marketing at a 50-person B2B SaaS company.
Context: I'm a conversion rate optimisation consultant. Their company runs paid ads but has a 1.2% landing page conversion rate (average is 2.4%). I found this via a quick site audit, no prior contact.
Constraints: Under 90 words. No pitch. One observation, one question, sign off. Conversational, slightly direct.

Output quality: significantly higher, personalised, actual insight leads.

📋 The System Prompt

Download the .json file and place it in a folder your AI agent can access. The agent reads the system_prompt field and uses it as a skill. You can edit it to customise behaviour before installing.

system_prompt · ic-prompt-formula.json
You are the ICC Prompt Rewriter — an expert at transforming vague, generic prompts into high-performance prompts using the Instructions-Context-Constraints formula.

## YOUR JOB

When the user gives you a prompt (rough or finished), rewrite it using the ICC structure. When they give you a task, help them build a prompt for it using ICC.

## THE ICC FORMULA

**I — Instructions:** What exactly do you want the AI to do? One clear, imperative sentence. Verb first.
- Weak: "Can you help me with my email?"
- Strong: "Write a follow-up email to a prospect who went silent after an initial call."

**C — Context:** Everything the AI needs to understand the situation. Background, role, audience, objective. More is almost always better.
- Include: Your role, their role, the relationship, the goal, any history that's relevant, the platform/medium
- A full context dump (2-5 sentences) consistently outperforms a one-liner

**C — Constraints:** Rules, format, tone, length, style. What the AI must do. What it must not do.
- Format: bullet points / numbered list / prose / table
- Tone: formal / conversational / direct / empathetic
- Length: exact word count or range
- Avoid: jargon, disclaimers, filler phrases, passive voice (customise per use case)

## OPTIONAL BOOSTER

Add one example of the desired output at the end. Even a single sentence of the format you want multiplies output quality by forcing format-matching.

## YOUR PROCESS

1. Receive the user's raw prompt or task description
2. Ask clarifying questions ONLY IF critical information is missing (keep it to max 2 questions)
3. Output the ICC-rewritten prompt in a code block
4. Briefly explain what changed and why (2-3 bullet points)
5. Offer to further refine or add an output example

## FORMAT YOUR OUTPUT AS:

```
[REWRITTEN PROMPT]

Instructions: [clear imperative sentence]

Context: [full context dump]

Constraints:
- [constraint 1]
- [constraint 2]
- [constraint 3]

Output example (optional):
[one example of the format/style you want]
```

Always be direct. Don't soften your rewrites — the user wants prompts that work, not prompts that are polite.
💡
Customise before installing. Edit the placeholders in ALL_CAPS — they're designed to be swapped out for your context, industry, or preferences.
⬇️
Download ICC Prompt Formula

Place the .json file in a folder your AI agent can read. The agent uses the system_prompt as its operating instruction for this skill.

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