Technique Guide
Chain of Thought Prompting
Instead of asking AI for an answer, ask it to think through the problem step-by-step. Chain of Thought (CoT) is one of the highest-leverage prompting techniques — especially for math, logic, planning, and any task requiring multi-step reasoning.
What is Chain of Thought Prompting?
Chain of Thought (CoT) prompting encourages an AI model to articulate its reasoning process before giving a final answer. Instead of jumping straight to a conclusion, the model "thinks out loud" through intermediate steps.
There are two main forms: few-shot CoT, where you provide worked examples that show step-by-step reasoning, and zero-shot CoT, where you simply add "Let's think step by step" to your prompt. Both significantly improve accuracy on reasoning tasks.
Zero-shot CoT example
Q: If a store has 48 apples and sells 3 bags of 6 apples, how many are left?
Let's think step by step.
When to Use Chain of Thought
- ✓Multi-step math or logic problems
- ✓Complex reasoning or planning tasks
- ✓Debugging code or tracing through logic
- ✓Comparing options or making decisions with multiple factors
- ✓Explaining something in a structured, step-by-step way
Articles
Chain of Thought Prompting: The Complete Guide
Everything you need to know about CoT prompting — from basic step-by-step reasoning to zero-shot CoT.
What is Prompt Engineering?
Understand the broader skill set that CoT is part of — essential context for beginners.
Zero-Shot vs Few-Shot Prompting
CoT works differently with zero examples vs. a few demonstrations. Here's when to choose each.
Why Your AI Results Are Mediocre
Skipping reasoning steps is one of the top causes of bad AI output. Learn how CoT fixes it.
The Iteration Loop: Refining Your Prompts
How to test and improve CoT prompts systematically.
Related Lessons
Go deeper on CoT and the surrounding techniques with these structured curriculum lessons.
Related Guides
Practice CoT in the Curriculum
The Intermediate track covers CoT, few-shot, system prompts, and more in a structured order.
Start Intermediate Track