Paper 5 · Question 50

A: Prepending the rules to every user message bills them as user content and duplicates what the system prompt is for.

B: The system prompt is specifically designed for persistent behavioral constraints and guidelines that apply throughout the entire conversation. Prepending to each user message (A) is redundant overhead. The first assistant message (C) is unreliable because the model can deviate from its own prior statements. Environment variables (D) have no effect on model behavior.

C: An assistant message is an example, not a constraint. Later turns can leave it behind.

D: Environment variables are not sent to the model as instructions.