Programatic Structure for Prompt Engineering: ell

ell is a lightweight, functional prompt engineering framework built on a few core principles:

1. Prompts are programs, not strings.

Prompts aren't just strings; they are all the code that leads to strings being sent to a language model. In ell we think of one particular way of using a language model as a discrete subroutine called a language model program.

2. Prompts are actually parameters of a machine learning model.

The process of prompt engineering involves many iterations, similar to the optimization processes in machine learning. Because LMPs are just functions, ell provides rich tooling for this process.

3. Tools for monitoring, versioning, and visualization

Prompt engineering goes from a dark art to a science with the right tools. Ell Studio is a local, open source tool for prompt version control, monitoring, visualization. With Ell Studio you can empiricize your prompt optimization process over time and catch regressions before it's too late.

4. Multimodality should be first class

LLMs can process and generate various types of content, including text, images, audio, and video. Prompt engineering with these data types should be as easy as it is with text.

...and much more!