Guide

Which AI PromptShot Template Should You Use?

AI PromptShot has eight templates, and picking one is mostly about what the prompt is and who is going to see it. Below is the same example prompt rendered in all eight, side by side, followed by what each template is actually built for — including when we'd point you at a different one instead.

Create a PromptShot

Same prompt, eight treatments

Every card below renders the exact same example prompt — "Explain the tradeoffs between two technical approaches and recommend one, with clear reasoning." — so the only thing changing is the template, theme, and canvas shape. This is the actual PromptShot preview component, not a mockup, so what you see is what the generator produces.

Clean
Social
Developer
Terminal
Editorial
Research
Notebook
Minimal

Template-by-template breakdown

Clean

Useful for anyone who wants to share a prompt quickly without thinking about design: newsletter writers, community managers, and people posting to general audiences.

Best for
general-purpose prompts, how-to prompts, prompt collections, onboarding examples
How it looks
A light, high-contrast card with a simple platform label, a short generated title, and your prompt text in a legible sans-serif layout.
Pairs well with
ChatGPT
Skip it when
the prompt needs to stand out in a visual feed (try Social) or reads as clearly technical (try Developer or Terminal).
Use the Clean template →

Social

Best for creators and marketers who share AI prompts as standalone social posts rather than inside an article or thread.

Best for
viral prompt ideas, prompt-of-the-day posts, marketing prompts, creative writing prompts
How it looks
A square card with a deep purple-to-navy gradient background, bright text, and generous padding so it reads well as a thumbnail.
Pairs well with
ChatGPT, Midjourney
Skip it when
the prompt is long or structured — the square canvas and bold gradient leave little room to read (try Editorial or Research).
Use the Social template →

Developer

Built for engineers documenting how they prompt coding agents like Cursor and Codex, or explaining a workflow to another developer.

Best for
coding prompts, debugging prompts, architecture prompts, API prompts, technical explanations
How it looks
A dark, near-black card with a monospace typeface and a subtle border — styled like a code editor rather than a social graphic.
Pairs well with
Cursor, Codex
Skip it when
the prompt isn't code-related — a dark, monospace card can look overly technical for a general audience (try Clean or Minimal).
Use the Developer template →

Terminal

Suited to engineers working with CLI-based coding agents who want a screenshot that visually matches a terminal or IDE.

Best for
CLI tool prompts, agent instructions, system prompts, shell-style workflows
How it looks
A wide, dark canvas with monospace type throughout, echoing a terminal window more than a typical prompt card.
Pairs well with
Codex, Cursor
Skip it when
the prompt is a long paragraph rather than short, command-like text — the canvas is built for brevity (try Developer or Editorial).
Use the Terminal template →

Editorial

A good fit for writers and educators sharing prompts that read more like a paragraph than a short instruction.

Best for
long-form prompts, writing prompts, teaching prompts, thought-leadership content
How it looks
A warm paper-toned background with serif-adjacent spacing and a large square canvas built for reading, not just scanning.
Pairs well with
Claude
Skip it when
the prompt is short — Editorial's generous paper-toned spacing looks empty with only a line or two (try Clean or Minimal).
Use the Editorial template →

Research

Useful for analysts, researchers, and students documenting the exact prompts behind a piece of analysis.

Best for
research prompts, analysis prompts, summarization prompts, comparison prompts
How it looks
A light, landscape card with plenty of whitespace and a clear hierarchy between the topic and the prompt body.
Pairs well with
Claude, Gemini
Skip it when
you want a decorative, attention-grabbing look for social — Research favors clarity over visual impact (try Social).
Use the Research template →

Notebook

A fit for anyone journaling prompt experiments or sharing an early-stage idea rather than a finished workflow.

Best for
brainstorming prompts, idea prompts, experiment logs, personal notes
How it looks
A square, paper-toned canvas with a soft, informal feel — closer to a notebook page than a polished slide.
Pairs well with
Gemini
Skip it when
the prompt represents a finished, polished workflow — Notebook's informal tone can undersell it (try Clean or Editorial).
Use the Notebook template →

Minimal

Best when the prompt needs to speak for itself, without a platform badge or theme pulling focus.

Best for
short prompts, quote-style prompts, documentation snippets, plain sharing
How it looks
A square, neutral card with restrained color and spacing — the plainest of the eight PromptShot styles.
Pairs well with
ChatGPT
Skip it when
the prompt needs a platform badge or extra context to make sense at a glance — Minimal drops that framing (try Clean).
Use the Minimal template →

Quick picks by prompt type

  • Writing or teaching a technique: Editorial gives long, well-written prompts room to breathe.
  • Debugging or coding with an agent: Developer or Terminal match the editor/shell look the prompt was written for.
  • Comparing options or summarizing research: Research keeps a multi-part analysis prompt legible.
  • Posting a prompt as its own social update: Social is built to be noticed in a feed.
  • An early idea or a note to yourself: Notebook keeps things informal.
  • Anything else, or you're not sure yet: Clean is the safe everyday default; Minimal if you want zero visual framing.