# Elements of a Prompt

As we cover more and more examples and applications that are possible with prompt engineering, you will notice that there are certain elements that make up a prompt. 

A prompt can contain any of the following components:

**Instruction** - a specific task or instruction you want the model to perform

**Context** - can involve external information or additional context that can steer the model to better responses

**Input Data** - is the input or question that we are interested to find a response for

**Output Indicator** - indicates the type or format of output.

Not all the components are required for a prompt and the format depends on the task at hand. We will touch on more concrete examples in upcoming guides.