Generation controls

    Prompt weighting

    Also called Token weighting, Emphasis syntax.

    Prompt weighting is explicit syntax inside a prompt — brackets, parentheses or a colon-and-number — that turns one word or phrase up or down without changing the strength of everything else in the prompt.

    It is a scalpel where CFG scale is a dial. Word order and repetition already nudge a model's attention, as the prompt entry covers, but that is an inherent bias of how the text is read, not a control you invoke on demand. Weighting syntax is deliberate: mark one term and only that term's pull on the generation moves, up or down, while every other word keeps the influence it already had.

    That is what separates it from CFG scale, and the two are routinely reached for interchangeably when they should not be. Raising CFG scale turns up obedience to the entire prompt at once — the words that were already landing get pushed harder along with the one that was not, which is why the fix for one ignored word so often arrives with a burnt, over-contrasted result attached. Weighting only that one word leaves the rest of the sentence exactly where it was.

    The syntax itself did not standardise. Parenthetical weights, a trailing colon-and-number, doubled colons — the punctuation differs by provider, and none of it is portable. A model that never implemented the mechanism does not politely ignore the brackets either; it reads them as literal characters, which is how a weighted prompt copied from one tool to another sometimes comes back with stray punctuation rendered into the scene.

    In practice

    • Reach for weighting on one stubborn word before turning CFG scale up for the whole prompt — the second option fixes one problem by creating several more.
    • The syntax is provider-specific; a bracket- or colon-weighted prompt copied to a different model may just render the punctuation as text.
    • Extreme weights break the sentence's coherence long before they finish fixing the one word that was being ignored — move in small steps.

    The mistake to avoid

    Reaching for CFG scale to fix one ignored word. That amplifies obedience to the entire prompt, distorting the parts that were already working; weighting is the tool for changing one word's influence without touching the rest.

    Where you will run into it

    Related terms

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