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COMPEL Glossary / user-prompt

User prompt

End-user input that consumes the system prompt's behavior — the "request" side of an LLM interaction.

What this means in practice

Distinct from system prompt because it arrives from a less-trusted source (often external users) and is therefore the attack surface for prompt injection and jailbreak techniques.

Synonyms

user message , end-user input

See also

  • System prompt — Operator-authored instructions that set behavior, persona, and boundaries for a model — distinguished from user prompts because the system prompt carries the operator's policy, while the user prompt carries end-user intent.
  • Jailbreak — A user-crafted prompt pattern that bypasses a model's safety training to elicit restricted behavior.