A single prompt asks the model to do the whole job at once. Prompt chaining breaks the job into steps, where the output of one prompt becomes the input of the next. The single prompt is quicker to write. The chain is easier to debug.
Neither wins on principle. The right choice depends on how many distinct jobs your analysis actually contains and how much you need to check along the way.
Use one prompt when the task is narrow. Classifying a hook or summarizing a transcript is a single job, and splitting it just adds overhead between calls.
One shot also keeps context in one place. When the steps are tightly coupled, a chain can lose the thread between calls and produce a second step that quietly ignores the first.
Each step has a clear input and a checkable output. When something looks wrong, you know exactly which call to fix instead of reworking one giant prompt and hoping the fix lands.
A chain is a set of small promises. When one breaks, you can see which one.
Pass forward only what the next step needs. Dumping the entire previous output into the next prompt adds noise and invites the model to latch onto a stray detail that never mattered.
Write down what each step must produce. A chain without contracts turns into a game of telephone where the last step barely resembles the first.
Start with a chain of three steps and merge them only where the handoffs keep losing information.
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