5 Prompts That Make Any AI App More Secure

AI platforms are great at building functional apps quickly, but they often skip basic security measures. Here are five copy-paste prompts that will add essential security to any AI-generated application.

1. Input Sanitization

The Problem: AI platforms rarely validate user input properly, leaving your app vulnerable to injection attacks.

Copy this prompt:

"Add input validation to all forms that:
- Removes HTML tags and script elements from text inputs
- Validates email formats before saving
- Limits text input length to reasonable maximums
- Escapes special characters in database queries
- Shows specific error messages for invalid input"

What this prevents: XSS attacks, SQL injection, and data corruption from malicious or malformed input.

2. Proper Authentication

The Problem: Basic login/logout isn't enough. Most AI apps have weak session management and password policies.

Copy this prompt:

"Implement secure authentication with:
- Password requirements: minimum 8 characters, mix of letters and numbers
- Account lockout after 5 failed login attempts
- Session timeout after 30 minutes of inactivity
- Secure password reset via email verification
- Force logout when user role changes"

What this prevents: Brute force attacks, session hijacking, and unauthorized access.

3. Access Control

The Problem: AI platforms often create apps where any logged-in user can access any data.

Copy this prompt:

"Add role-based access control where:
- Users can only view and edit their own data
- Admins require separate login confirmation for sensitive actions
- API endpoints check user permissions before returning data
- Direct URL access to restricted pages redirects to login
- Database queries filter results by user ownership automatically"

What this prevents: Data breaches, unauthorized data access, and privilege escalation.

4. Secure Data Storage

The Problem: Sensitive data often gets stored in plain text, visible to anyone with database access.

Copy this prompt:

"Secure sensitive data by:
- Hashing all passwords with bcrypt before database storage
- Encrypting personally identifiable information (PII) like emails and phone numbers
- Never storing credit card or payment information directly
- Adding database constraints to prevent duplicate sensitive records
- Creating audit logs for all data access and modifications"

What this prevents: Data breaches exposing user passwords and personal information.

5. API Security

The Problem: AI-generated APIs often lack rate limiting and proper error handling, making them easy targets.

Copy this prompt:

"Secure all API endpoints with:
- Rate limiting: maximum 100 requests per user per minute
- Authentication required for all data modification endpoints
- Generic error messages that don't reveal system information
- CORS headers configured for your specific domain only
- Request logging for monitoring suspicious activity"

What this prevents: DDoS attacks, API abuse, and information disclosure through error messages.

Quick Security Test

After implementing these prompts, test your security improvements:

1. Try submitting forms with: <script>alert('test')</script>
2. Attempt to access another user's data by changing IDs in URLs
3. Test password reset with invalid email addresses
4. Make rapid API requests to trigger rate limiting
5. Check error messages don't reveal sensitive system details

Why These Prompts Work

AI platforms understand security concepts but don't implement them by default because:

• They prioritize speed over security in demos
• Security adds complexity that might confuse beginners
• They assume you'll add security later (most people don't)

By explicitly requesting these security measures, you're telling the AI to prioritize protection over simplicity.

What This Doesn't Cover

These prompts handle the basics, but production apps need:

• HTTPS/SSL certificates (usually handled by hosting)
• Regular security updates and patches
• Penetration testing for serious applications
• Compliance requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.)

For simple projects and MVPs, these five prompts provide solid baseline security without requiring deep security expertise.

The Security Mindset

Security isn't about perfect protection - it's about making your app a harder target than the alternatives. These prompts raise the bar enough to deter casual attacks and protect against common vulnerabilities.

At Pythagora, we build these security measures into the development process by default, rather than requiring separate prompts. Security shouldn't be an afterthought - it should be integrated from the first line of code.

But regardless of which platform you use, adding these five prompts to your development workflow will make your AI-generated apps significantly more secure with minimal effort.

Pythagora 2.0 launches in June 2025 with security-first development practices built directly into the AI workflow.