Human → Agent

You are writing for a stochastic reader. Every instruction is a lever on how predictably it behaves. The aim is predictability — the agent taking the same process each run, not producing the same output. Each rule below buys some.

Prompt the positive

State the behaviour you want. Prohibition backfires: don't think of an elephant names the elephant and makes it more available, not less. Phrase the target so the banned behaviour is never spoken. Keep a "don't" only as a hard guardrail you cannot phrase positively, and even then pair it with what to do instead.

Leading words