PlaybookPrompts

Write and explain a regex pattern for extracting structured data

Data & Analysis regexdata-cleaningtext-parsingautomation

Regex is fast once written but time-consuming to construct correctly from scratch, especially for messy real-world strings. This prompt produces a working pattern, explains each component, and warns you about common failure cases.

Prompt
I need a regular expression to extract specific information from text strings. Here is the context:

- Target environment where regex will run: {{ENVIRONMENT}} (e.g., Python re module, Google Sheets REGEXEXTRACT, PostgreSQL, JavaScript)
- What I want to extract: {{EXTRACTION_GOAL}}
- Example input strings (include at least one tricky edge case): {{EXAMPLE_STRINGS}}
- Expected output for each example: {{EXPECTED_OUTPUT}}

Please do the following:

1. Write a regex pattern that handles all the examples I provided. If the environment requires a specific syntax (e.g., single vs. double escape), apply it.
2. Break down the pattern component by component with a short plain-English explanation of each part.
3. Show the pattern applied to each of my example strings so I can verify the output.
4. List at least 3 input variations that could break this pattern, and suggest how to extend it for each.
5. If a regex is not the right tool here (e.g., the structure is too irregular or a simple split would be faster), say so and suggest an alternative approach.
Variables to fill in
  • {{ENVIRONMENT}}
  • {{EXTRACTION_GOAL}}
  • {{EXAMPLE_STRINGS}}
  • {{EXPECTED_OUTPUT}}

How to use this prompt

  1. Copy the prompt above (Copy button on the top-right).
  2. Replace each {{VAR}} with your own value. Variables: {{ENVIRONMENT}}{{EXTRACTION_GOAL}}{{EXAMPLE_STRINGS}}{{EXPECTED_OUTPUT}}.
  3. Paste it into one of the recommended tools below.
  4. Iterate: tighten constraints in the prompt if the output is generic.

Why this prompt is structured this way

The prompt is split into explicit steps because LLMs do better when the path is named, not implied. Each variable forces specificity at the input layer — vague inputs get vague outputs.

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