What is 'few-shot prompting'?

Few-shot prompting means showing the model worked examples of what you want instead of only describing it. You include one or two input-and-output pairs in the style you are after, then give the real input; the examples set the pattern and the model continues it. One example is often called one-shot and several few-shot or multishot, but the mechanism is the same.

It earns its place when the target is easier to show than to state. Tone, a house summary style, a particular row layout, the level of detail you consider sufficient — each takes a clumsy paragraph to describe and one example to convey exactly.

How many examples is a real question, and the answer depends on where you are working. Anthropic's consumer guidance is to start with one and add more only if the output still misses; its developer documentation suggests three to five for best results in a production prompt. Either way, make the examples resemble your actual case and vary them enough that the model copies the pattern rather than an accident in your sample.