System Prompt

The system prompt is the instruction set that defines the AI's role, behavior, constraints, and tools — sent to the model before the user's message on every call.

Everything the model 'is' in a session lives in the system prompt: identity, tone, available tools, what to refuse, output format. It's the most leveraged thing you write — small wording changes produce large behavioral changes. Production system prompts are typically a layered composition: base persona + role rules + current SOP + per-task context. They're version-controlled like code.

Example

An AI SDR's system prompt is 1,200 words: who Maya is, how she writes, what tools she can call, what she refuses, the current outbound playbook, the company's value props.

How OpenLabor uses it

OpenLabor composes system prompts from your persona + SOP + current mission, version-controlled and inspectable.

Should I write the system prompt myself?

Edit, not write. Start from a battle-tested template and tune the parts that matter to you.

Related: persona, sop, guardrails.

AI Labor Glossary