Versatile AI Risk Assessment

Glossary Systems and architecture

System prompt

The fixed base instruction that sets a model’s role and limits.

As of: September 2026 · Glossary with 28 terms

What is System prompt?

The system prompt is the leading instruction that defines a model’s role, tone, permitted topics and limits. It is usually invisible to the user, yet it shapes every answer and often carries business logic.

Two points matter for assessment. First, it is not a secret: system prompts can often be elicited or inferred, so keys and confidential rules do not belong in them. Second, it is a configuration that changes the result and should be versioned, reviewed and approved like program code.

ConfigurationModel TheftVersioning

Threats using this term (3)

Entries in the threat catalogue whose text uses the term. Every link leads to the full threat page.

Prompt Injection – Direct Attackers write instructions straight into their input so the AI system ignores its original rules and follows their commands instead. Meta Prompt Extraction Attackers get the AI system to reveal its hidden system prompt, configuration, or internal instructions. Side-Channel Attacks (Timing Analysis) Attackers infer hidden information about the model, its prompts or its state from observable side effects of operation, such as response …

More terms from the subject area Systems and architecture.

GPAI and systemic risk Foundation models for many tasks, with their own duties and a separate tier for systemic risk. Agentic system (agentic AI) A system that uses a language model to carry out multi-step tasks on its own. Multi-agent system Several agents share a task and call each other.

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See related threats in the catalogue All terms in the glossary

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“System prompt”. Versatile AI Risk Assessment, glossary of AI risk analysis, as of September 2026.
https://www.versatile-ai-risk-assessment.com/en/wissensbasis/glossary/systemprompt/

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