The 4th Prompt

The 4th Prompt

In tennis, they say you're only as good as your 2nd serve.

In the world of building with AI, your effectiveness is only revealed on your 4th prompt.

The 1st prompt is magic. You speak an idea into existence. A website, a working app—it appears out of thin air. The 2nd and 3rd prompts feel just as easy, adding features and flair. You think you've cracked the code.

But then comes the 4th prompt.

"Now, can you change how users sign in?"
"Can you add this new field and make sure the old data still works?"
"Can you restructure this part to make it more efficient?"

This is the moment the magic stops and the real work begins. This is where you discover what the game of building is truly about.

The 4th prompt is to software what the 2nd serve is to tennis.

If your 2nd serve is weak, you lose tennis matches. If you haven't thought beyond the 4th prompt, you can't build a competitive system. It's that plain and simple.

The mindset, language, and idioms required to change a system are not the same as those used to start one. The rules for managing change are different. This is the battle software engineering has been fighting since its dawn.

Prompting in English will not be good enough anymore. To navigate the 4th prompt, you need to drop down to a more precise language—the language of code snippets, schema design, data representations, and tests described as code.

At Zehen , we're obsessed with the entire lifecycle of building. We've designed a system and a partnership that not only celebrates the "hammer" of the 1st prompt but also provides the surgical "chisel" needed for the 4th prompt and beyond.

Are you winning matches with your flashy 1st serve? Or do you feel you need to improve your 2nd serves?