Chain-of-Thought Basics

Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting asks the AI to show its reasoning process. This dramatically improves accuracy on complex problems requiring logic, math, or multi-step reasoning.

What is Chain-of-Thought?

The reasoning process catches errors and ensures logical consistency.

Triggering Chain-of-Thought

Simple phrases that activate CoT:

• "Let's think step by step"
• "Think through this carefully"
• "Explain your reasoning"
• "Show your work"
• "Walk me through your thinking"

Exercise: Add Chain-of-Thought

When CoT Helps Most

Chain-of-thought is most valuable for:

Math Problems

Logic Puzzles

Decision Making

Debugging

CoT Structure Patterns

Simple CoT

Structured CoT

Verification CoT

Exercise: Structured CoT for Analysis

CoT for Error Reduction

Practice: Apply CoT

Chain-of-thought transforms AI from a quick-answer machine into a careful reasoner.