The Prompt README Pattern: Make AI Workflows Maintainable

If prompts are “programs for language models”, then most of us are shipping software with… no documentation. That’s fine for a one-off chat. It’s painful for anything you want to reuse , share , or trust a week later. The fix is boring (and that’s why it works): write a Prompt README . A Prompt README is a short, structured document that sits next to a prompt (or a workflow) and answers four questions: What is this for? What does “good” look like? What inputs does it expect? How do I run it, and how do I know it didn’t drift? It’s the difference between: “Here’s my magic prompt, good luck” and “Here’s a small tool with a contract.” Below is a concrete template you can copy, plus examples for a code-review assistant and a meeting-notes workflow. Why this pattern matters When an AI workflow stops working, it’s usually one of these: Context drift: you forgot the assumptions you had when you wrote the prompt. Input drift: the prompt silently breaks when the input format changes. Quality dr