Instruction Hierarchy and Priority Conflicts (EXPLAINED)
Hard prompt design on instruction stacking, jailbreak override attempts, and provider-specific precedence rules.
TL;DR — Quick Answer
Providers generally rank developer/system instructions above user messages, but models can still be jailbroken — never rely on hierarchy alone for security. Design by making policy enforceable in code, keeping user requests scoped inside tagged sections, and detecting when user text attempts to override tools or safety rules.
The Interview Question
How do LLMs resolve conflicts between system, developer, and user instructions? How should you design for priority?
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Instruction HierarchyJailbreakSystem PromptPolicyOpenAIAnthropic