A university policy bot is prompted to write a long essay for every question, and students cannot find the rule they asked about. What should the prompt guidelines set for the answer?

Output shape is part of prompt guidance because the reader has a job to do with the answer. This policy bot is told to write a long essay, and students cannot find the rule, so the guidelines should fix the shape to a short answer plus the title of the policy that supports it. Students are looking for the rule that applies to them, and an essay buries that rule under restatement they did not ask to read. The policy title is the pointer back to the controlled document. A still longer essay that restates the whole handbook pushes the rule even further down the page. A warmer greeting leaves the essay length as the current prompt demands it, so the friendliness does not help the student locate the rule. Freedom to invent a catchier policy title breaks the link to the real policy and can point the student at a document that does not exist. Exam caveat: a short answer is not a reason to drop the source; the policy title is how the student checks the rule. Operational check: ask three handbook questions and confirm each reply is a short answer followed by a policy title that exists in the approved set.