> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flipsidecrypto.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Effective prompting

> Master the art of asking questions that get you the best results

The quality of your prompts directly impacts the quality of your insights. Here's how to ask
questions that unlock FlipsideAI's full potential.

## The fundamentals

### Be specific

Vague questions get vague answers. Specific questions get actionable insights.

<CodeGroup>
  ```text Bad theme={null}
  Tell me about swaps on Blur.
  ```

  ```text Good theme={null}
  Compare top NFT projects trading on Blur vs OpenSea over the last 30 days; include avg sale price and total volume; restrict to collections with >$1M monthly volume.
  ```
</CodeGroup>

### Define your terms

Don't assume FlipsideAI knows what you mean by "whales," "recently," or "active users." Define it
explicitly.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Thresholds" icon="chart-simple">
    * Whales: greater than \$100K holdings
    * Retail: less than \$1K holdings
    * High-value transactions: greater than \$50K
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Time ranges" icon="calendar">
    Use explicit dates instead of relative terms:

    * ✅ "2024-01-01 to 2024-03-31"
    * ❌ "recently" or "this quarter"

    Exception: phrases like "last 30 days" or "past week" are fine.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="User categories" icon="users">
    * Quality users: score >4 on reputation metric
    * New addresses: first transaction within date range
    * Active addresses: >5 transactions in period
    * Power users: >20 transactions or >\$10K volume
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Provide chain and contract context

**Always specify which chain(s) and contract(s) you want to analyze.** The more context you provide
upfront, the better FlipsideAI can understand your intent and deliver accurate results.

<Warning>
  **This is critical:** If you know the chain(s) or contract(s) you want to analyze, tell FlipsideAI
  explicitly. Don't assume it will guess correctly.
</Warning>

<CodeGroup>
  ```text Bad theme={null}
  Show me USDC transfers.
  ```

  ```text Good theme={null}
  Show me USDC transfers on Arbitrum over the past 30 days.
  ```

  ```text Better theme={null}
  Analyze transfer activity for 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 (USDC on Ethereum) from 2024-01-01 to 2024-03-31.
  ```
</CodeGroup>

**Why this matters:**

* Many tokens exist on multiple chains (USDC, USDT, WETH, etc.)
* Contract addresses eliminate ambiguity completely
* Specifying chains helps FlipsideAI choose the right data sources
* Multi-chain analysis requires explicit chain names

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Specify chains explicitly" icon="network-wired">
    Always include the chain name:

    * ✅ "Analyze Uniswap v3 on Arbitrum"
    * ✅ "Compare DEX volumes across Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism"
    * ❌ "Show me Uniswap activity" (which chain?)
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use contract addresses when possible" icon="address-card">
    Contract addresses eliminate ambiguity: - ✅ "Analyze 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48
    (USDC on Ethereum)" - ✅ "Show transfers for 0x... (UNI token) on Arbitrum" - ❌ "Show me UNI
    token activity" (there are multiple UNI tokens) Even if you include the token name, adding the
    contract address ensures accuracy.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Multi-chain analysis" icon="layer-group">
    When comparing across chains, be explicit about each:

    * ✅ "Compare USDC transfers on Ethereum vs Arbitrum vs Polygon for Q1 2024"
    * ✅ "Show me Uniswap v3 TVL on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism"
    * ❌ "Compare USDC across chains" (which chains?)
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Build context incrementally

Start broad, inspect the results, then narrow your focus. Think of it as a conversation, not a
single query.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Explore">"Show me DEX activity on Base"</Step>
  <Step title="Narrow">"Focus on the top 3 protocols by volume"</Step>
  <Step title="Deep dive">"Break down Uniswap swaps by token pair for the top 10 pairs"</Step>
  <Step title="Analyze">"Which pairs have the highest concentration of whale trades?"</Step>
</Steps>

## Advanced techniques

### Provide examples

Show FlipsideAI what you're looking for:

```text theme={null}
Find protocols similar to Uniswap (automated market makers with liquidity pools)
that launched on Arbitrum in 2023.
```

### Specify output format

Tell FlipsideAI how you want to see the results:

* "Show this as a time series line chart"
* "Create a bar chart comparing the top 10 protocols"
* "Format this as a table with columns for: date, protocol, volume, unique users"
* "Make this Twitter-ready with a clean, simple visualization"

### Request validation

Ask FlipsideAI to double-check its work:

* "Validate these results using an alternative calculation method"
* "Cross-check this TVL against DeFiLlama data"
* "Show me the query you used and explain your methodology"

### Break complex questions into steps

For multi-part analyses, guide FlipsideAI through the process:

```text theme={null}
Let's analyze Aave lending behavior in three steps:
1. First, show me total deposits and borrows over the past 90 days
2. Then, break down deposits by asset (top 10 assets by volume)
3. Finally, identify addresses that deposited >$100K and took a loan within 24 hours
```

## Common patterns that work

### Comparison questions

```text theme={null}
Compare [metric] across [entities] for [time period]
```

Examples:

* "Compare DEX volumes across Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism for the last 30 days"
* "Compare average transaction fees for Uniswap v2 vs v3 this month"

### Trend analysis

```text theme={null}
Show me the [metric] trend for [entity] over [time period], broken down by [frequency]
```

Examples:

* "Show me the daily active user trend for Aave on Ethereum over the past 90 days"
* "Show weekly stablecoin transfer volumes on Solana for Q1 2024"

### Cohort analysis

```text theme={null}
Find [user type] that [action] during [time period], then track [metric]
```

Examples:

* "Find addresses that first used Uniswap in January 2024, then track their monthly trading volume"
* "Find wallets that bridged to Arbitrum in Q1, then show their DeFi adoption rate"

### Anomaly detection

```text theme={null}
Identify [entities] where [metric] is [threshold] compared to [baseline]
```

Examples:

* "Identify pools where liquidity dropped >50% in a single day over the past month"
* "Find tokens where trading volume spiked >10x compared to their 30-day average"

## Working with specific data

<Note>
  **Remember:** Always provide chain and contract context upfront. See [Provide chain and contract
  context](#provide-chain-and-contract-context) in the fundamentals section above.
</Note>

### Reference contract addresses

When in doubt, use contract addresses instead of token symbols. This eliminates ambiguity and
ensures you're looking at the right asset:

```text theme={null}
Analyze transfer activity for 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 (USDC on Ethereum)
```

**Best practice:** Include both the contract address and the token name/chain for clarity:

* ✅ "Analyze 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 (USDC on Ethereum)"
* ✅ "Show transfers for 0x1f9840a85d5aF5bf1D1762F925BDADdC4201F984 (UNI token on Ethereum)"

### Specify chains explicitly

Many tokens exist on multiple chains. Be explicit about which chain(s) you want:

```text theme={null}
Show me USDC transfers on Arbitrum (not Ethereum or Polygon)
```

**For multi-chain analysis:**

* ✅ "Compare USDC transfers on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Polygon"
* ✅ "Show me Uniswap v3 TVL on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism"
* ❌ "Show me USDC across chains" (which chains?)

### Use table names when you know them

If you're familiar with Flipside's data structure, reference specific tables:

```text theme={null}
Query the ethereum.defi.ez_dex_swaps table for Uniswap v3 activity
```

Type `@` in the chat to browse available tables and datasets.

## What to avoid

<Warning>
  **Don't do this:** - Assume FlipsideAI remembers context from previous conversations (it
  doesn't—each chat is isolated) - Use ambiguous terms like "popular," "big," "good," or "active"
  without defining them - Ask about tokens or protocols without specifying which chain(s) you want
  to analyze - Assume FlipsideAI will guess the right contract address—always provide chain and
  contract context when you know it - Ask multiple unrelated questions in one prompt (break them
  into separate messages) - Request real-time data without specifying "use live query mode"
</Warning>

## Pro tips

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Ask 'why' questions" icon="question">
    Don't just accept the numbers. Dig in:

    * "Why is this number so high?"
    * "What might explain this trend?"
    * "Are there any data quality issues I should be aware of?"
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Request visual styles" icon="palette">
    Upload an example image or describe the style you want:

    * "Make this chart look like the ones in Dune Analytics"
    * "Use a dark background with purple accents"
    * "Create a minimalist chart suitable for a presentation"

    Save your favorite styles as [Rules](/flipsideai/rules) for consistent output.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Iterate openly" icon="rotate">
    If something looks wrong, say so: - "This number seems too low. Can you double-check?" - "I
    expected to see more activity in December. Did we miss something?" - "This chart is hard to read.
    Can you simplify it?"
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use workflows for complex analyses" icon="diagram-project">
    For structured, methodological analyses, use [Workflows](/flipsideai/workflows):

    * Type `@` to browse available workflows
    * Workflows provide pre-trained, quasi-deterministic approaches to common analytical questions
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Example prompts to try

Get inspired by these real-world prompts:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="DeFi">
    * "Compare lending protocol TVL across Ethereum Layer 2s (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base) for Q1 2024. Include market share breakdown."
    * "Find all addresses that provided >\$100K liquidity to Uniswap v3 ETH/USDC pools on Arbitrum, then track their impermanent loss."
    * "Analyze liquidation events on Aave v3 for the past 30 days: total value liquidated, top liquidated assets, and liquidator concentration."
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="NFTs">
    * "Compare NFT marketplace volumes (OpenSea, Blur, LooksRare) on Ethereum for the past 90 days.
      Show daily volumes and market share trends." - "Find NFT collections that launched on Polygon in
      2024 with >1000 unique minters and analyze their trading activity post-mint." - "Show me the top
      20 NFT traders by profit on Blur over the past month, including their win rate and average hold
      time."
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Cross-chain">
    * "Compare bridge volumes from Ethereum to each L2 (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkSync) for the past
      quarter." - "Find addresses that used the same wallet address on both Ethereum and Solana, then
      compare their DeFi behavior on each chain." - "Analyze stablecoin flows: which chains are
      gaining/losing USDC and USDT over the past 30 days?"
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="User behavior">
    * "Identify airdrop farmers: addresses that interacted with >10 different protocols across >3 chains in the past month with low total transaction value."
    * "Find power users on Base: addresses with >50 transactions and >\$10K volume across DeFi protocols since the chain launched."
    * "Analyze wallet age distribution for Uniswap users: how many users are less than 1 month old vs greater than 1 year old, and how does their trading behavior differ?"
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Customize with Rules" icon="sliders" href="/flipsideai/rules">
    Save your preferred prompt styles and output formats
  </Card>

  <Card title="Use Workflows" icon="diagram-project" href="/flipsideai/workflows">
    Apply structured methodologies to complex questions
  </Card>

  <Card title="Work with data" icon="database" href="/flipsideai/data-and-results">
    Validate, download, and manipulate results
  </Card>

  <Card title="Analysis modes" icon="gears" href="/flipsideai/analysis-modes">
    Understand how FlipsideAI processes different questions
  </Card>
</CardGroup>