Prompt Sprawl

Kind: anti-pattern

Layer: Enforcement Core

Record: architecture:prompt-sprawl

Severity: discouraged

Scope: contract_compatibility, model_governance

Formed by: Scatter prompts, retrieval rules, model parameters, safety instructions, and output schemas across code without versioning, evaluation, or ownership.

Canonical: Ontology

A defect in which prompts, model parameters and output schemas are scattered through code without versions or evaluation.

Listed in Architecture principles, after Flaky Test Normalization and before Ungrounded Content.

Refactored by

• Prompt Registry
• Prompt Versioning
• Evaluation Suite
• Centralized Model Configuration

Severity

• discouraged

Category

• Anti-patterns

Force

• Contract compatibility
• Model governance

Negated by

• Prompt Engineering

Violates

• Prompt Engineering

Linked from

• Systems built around a model
• Anti-patterns
• Model Architecture
• Model Architecture
• Severity levels
• The forces