Removing redundant instructions and focusing on boundaries, definitions of done, and conflict resolution makes Astra system prompts more effective.
Adapted from @charliejhillsI rewrote my system prompt for GPT-6 Astra this week and cut it in half. It works better now. Here's why, straight from OpenAI's new Astra guide: Astra isn't a faster GPT-5 It's a different worker GPT-5 needed instructions. Astra needs boundaries. So most of what I had written was noise. → "Run tests after every change." It already does that. → "Check with me before continuing." It already does that too, sometimes too much. The stuff that actually matters: → Where can it assume, and where does it need to ask? Spell that out. → What does done look like? If you don't say, it won't know when to stop. → Which rule wins when two clash? Old AGENTS.md files are full of contradictions Astra now takes literally. → Keep your skills short. One sentence each. Long descriptions blur together and it ends up ignoring all of them. Old way → Micromanage every step → Astra stalls New way → Set the boundaries → Astra runs Stop writing prompts like a manager hovering over someone's desk. Write them like a brief you'd hand to a senior engineer and then leave the room. The full guide is on OpenAI's developer docs. Worth 10 minutes before your next build.
