PromptDev

Write a regex from a description

Describe what to match, list examples of both kinds, and get a pattern with a piece-by-piece explanation — plus its honest limits.

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Your prompt

Write a regular expression (JavaScript) that matches: order IDs like ORD-2026-00042: the prefix ORD, a year, then a 5-digit number. It MUST match all of these: ORD-2026-00042 ORD-1999-00001 It must NOT match any of these: ORD-26-00042 ord-2026-00042 ORD-2026-42 Give the pattern, then explain it piece by piece, then list what it deliberately does not handle. Verify it against every example above before answering — if the requirements conflict, or an example can't be satisfied, say which and why instead of handing me a pattern that fails them. Prefer a readable pattern over a maximally clever one.

Model-agnostic — works in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or any AI chat.

Why this prompt works

  • Positive AND negative examples turn a vague description into a testable spec — most bad generated regex comes from prompts that only said what should match.
  • "Verify before answering" makes the model run its own pattern against your examples, which catches the majority of first-draft errors.
  • Asking for deliberate limits up front beats discovering them in production — every practical regex has them.

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