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Prompt Variant Testing

When building AI-powered tools, small wording changes in prompts can lead to dramatically different behavior. This makes it difficult to assess which version of a prompt is more effective, consistent, or safe over time.

Why It Matters

LLMs are notoriously sensitive to phrasing. A prompt that works today may degrade in performance after a model update. Teams need a way to track and compare prompt variants without relying on guesswork or memory.

How Dokugent Helps

Dokugent enables structured tracking and certification of prompt variants across versions and agents. You can:

  • Use dokugent plan to scaffold different prompt variants under clearly named steps.
  • Link variants into plan.index.md using dokugent plan --link, enabling structured evaluation sequences.
  • Unlink outdated or ineffective variants using dokugent plan --unlink, while retaining historical records.
  • Run dokugent preview to inspect behavior with current models.
  • Use dokugent compile to lock in tested prompt versions.
  • Certify high-performing prompt chains with dokugent certify.

Example

📁 .dokugent/agents/focus-bot/
├── plan.index.md
├── summarize_v1.md
├── summarize_v2.md
├── summarize_v3.md

By treating each variant as a versioned step, you gain traceability, side-by-side comparison, and the option to revert to older variants if model behavior shifts.