Glossary · Prompting & context
Chain of Thought (CoT)
Intermediate reasoning used to decompose a task before producing an answer. A prompt can request a visible rationale, while some systems use internal reasoning that is not returned to the user.
Why it matters
Decomposition can help on multi-step tasks, but a fluent rationale is not proof that the answer is correct or that the text faithfully represents the model's internal computation.
In practice
Ask for a concise plan, independently check the result, and request verifiable calculations or citations instead of relying on a long reasoning transcript.
Common confusion
Chain of thought is not a substitute for tools, tests, or external verification.
Related terms
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