10-warn.com

warn

To tell someone about a danger or problem ahead of time so they can avoid harm. A warning is a heads-up, not a command to stop.

What a model may hear

log severity level software logging and monitoring: treat the message as a non-fatal issue to record, often below 'error' but above 'info'
compiler or linter flag programming language tooling: emit notices about suspicious code patterns while continuing to compile or run
security alert trigger intrusion detection and firewalls: flag behavior for review without blocking it, or escalate to higher alert levels
deprecation notice API and library documentation: signal that a feature will be removed or changed in future versions

“Warn me if this looks wrong”

Meant: Tell me your concerns so I can decide

May be taken as: Log it silently or use a rigid threshold instead of explaining

Say instead: “Explain what concerns you see and why, then ask me before acting”

“Give me a warning”

Meant: Alert me to a problem

May be taken as: Format output as a machine-parseable log entry with severity code instead of plain language

Say instead: “Tell me in plain language what I should watch out for”

“I want to warn the user”

Meant: I need text that cautions someone

May be taken as: Generate code that implements a logging.warn() call instead of drafting the message

Say instead: “Draft warning text for a person to read, not code for a computer to run”

“This is just a warning”

Meant: Do not treat this as an emergency

May be taken as: Downrank or ignore the content because 'warn' signals lower priority in log hierarchies

Say instead: “Treat this as important context, not an emergency”

Say 'tell me plainly' if you want human-readable caution, not log formatting
Specify 'in code' or 'as a function' when you want a programming implementation
Add 'explain why' to get reasoning, not just a severity label
Use 'alert' or 'notify' if you want stronger urgency than a typical warning carries
Say 'draft the message' to avoid getting code when you want words