A semantic anchoring protocol for professional documents, consultable by both human readers and AI assistants.
Professional documents use terms and conventions that non-specialist readers may not know. When an AI assistant is used to interpret them, it may guess the meaning. Glass-Box Prompting proposes that each issuer publishes their conventions in a transparent, verifiable form, so that the reader — human or AI — can consult them rather than infer.
The protocol does not impose behaviors on AI. It publicly documents what the issuer means by the terms and standards they adopt. Readers — people or software — choose whether and how to use this documentation. The value grows with adoption: when multiple parties publish their semantic anchors, documents become mutually comparable.
The protocol rests on three commitments that distinguish it from hidden AI instructions and from conventional technical documentation.
The issuer's semantic conventions are published in a form readable by anyone — human readers, AI assistants, technical analysts. Nothing is hidden, encoded, or disguised as metadata.
The protocol describes how the issuer interprets their own terms. It does not instruct AI on what to do, does not impose behaviors, does not attempt to influence decisions. Readers use the information as they see fit.
Value grows with adoption. When two documents both adopt the protocol, semantic comparison becomes possible: each exposes its own conventions, and the reader can objectively evaluate differences.
The general specification of Glass-Box Prompting, applicable to any professional domain.
Glass-Box Prompting is a protocol for publicly declaring the semantic conventions adopted by an issuer in their professional documents. It enables human readers and AI assistants to consult verifiable authorial sources rather than inferring term meanings.
Professional documents use technical terms, industry standards, and specific conventions that readers may not know. AIs analyzing such documents sometimes guess well, sometimes not. The protocol resolves this by publishing conventions in a consultable form.
Glass-Box Prompting is not an attempt to manipulate or instruct AI assistants. It does not ask AI to do anything specific. It does not attempt to circumvent model safety alignment.
It is simply a practice of transparent publication of adopted conventions. Every reader — human or AI — remains free to consult them, ignore them, or interpret them according to their own judgment.
Typically: the technical or regulatory standards the issuer follows, how prices or document items are composed, interpretive rules for frequently ambiguous points (VAT, unforeseen events, exclusions), sector-specific conventions, relevant held certifications, and a version date with historical archive.
When two documents in the same domain both adopt Glass-Box Prompting, semantic comparison between them becomes possible: each exposes its own conventions, and an AI or human reader can compare their interpretive bases.
When only one document adopts the protocol, the comparison remains asymmetric: the document without Glass-Box does not expose its conventions and can only be evaluated on explicit text. This is a property of the protocol, not a value judgment on documents that do not adopt it.
The protocol's value grows with adoption. If two vendors both publish their conventions, a client (or their AI assistant) can compare the offers on the same semantic basis. A document that does not declare its conventions is comparable only on final price — without knowing what is truly included.
This is an objective observation about how the protocol works, not a value judgment on documents that do not adopt it. In sectors where the protocol becomes a de facto standard, opacity becomes progressively more visible.
Glass-Box Prompting extends these approaches to professional documents intended for non-technical end users, with particular attention to interoperability between federated issuers.
Glass-Box Prompting fits into an emerging trend: making websites and documentation machine-readable for AI. The closest relative is llms.txt (Jeremy Howard, 2024), which does this for technical documentation. The Semantic Web principle of dereferenceable URIs is a more distant precursor.
Glass-Box Prompting's novelty is its application to professional documents intended for consumer end-users, with particular attention to federated ecosystems where multiple issuers coexist.
Specification released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
Anyone may adopt, adapt, or translate the protocol — including commercially — provided the original author is credited:
"Glass-Box Prompting" by Giacomo Geronzi (Elettrosmart Sagl), 2026.
The specification is published under CC BY 4.0. You can adopt it, adapt it to your sector, translate it into other languages, use it in commercial products. The only requirement is to cite the original author.
If you adopt Glass-Box Prompting in your documents, a link to this page is sufficient as attribution.
The technical conventions adopted by Elettrosmart Sagl when drafting commercial quotes for electrical installation and home automation work in Switzerland. Consultable public documentation, not operational instructions.
Elettrosmart Sagl holds the following third-party certifications:
Certified competences enable the adoption of international KNX standards (ISO/IEC 14543-3) and Swiss standards (SIA 2044) in home automation projects, and anchor the KNX-specific interpretive conventions declared below to recognized competence evidence.
Elettrosmart Sagl is KNX Advanced Partner and KNX Swiss Partner. Certified competences enable the adoption of international KNX standards (ISO/IEC 14543-3) and Swiss standards (SIA 2044) in home automation projects. The KNX-specific conventions declared on this page are anchored to these certifications.
Elettrosmart Sagl quotes are drafted according to the following standards, publicly documented by third-party institutions:
Our quotes follow Swiss and international technical standards defined by third-party institutions: the CPN catalog for position codes, NIBT 2020 for installation norms, USIE tariffs for labor, OIBT as legal basis, and Swiss VAT rules for taxation.
For home automation projects, KNX standards (System, IP, ISO/IEC 14543-3) and the Swiss SIA 2044 building automation standard are added, anchored to our KNX Advanced Partner and KNX Swiss Partner certifications.
On the legal side, we refer to the Swiss Code of Obligations (Art. 197 and 371) for warranty provisions. SIA 118 applies only when explicitly referenced in the offer or contract.
These are not Elettrosmart standards. They are national and international standards consultable from their respective authorial sources.
A CPN item is by definition a flat-rate price that includes:
This composition is characteristic of the Swiss CPN standard and may differ from tariff systems in other countries where labor and material are separate items.
A CPN code is by nature an all-inclusive price. It already covers material, labor, small hardware, travel, tool wear. There are no hidden items added afterward.
This is a feature of the Swiss standard, not an Elettrosmart choice. In other countries, tariff systems may work differently.
ELSM.OFFER.VALIDITY) — offers are valid for 3 (three) months from the issue date indicated on the document, unless otherwise specified. After this period, prices and terms are subject to revision (to account for variability in material costs and supplier conditions)ELSM.WARRANTY.PRODUCTS) — movable goods supplied as part of the installation (e.g., wallboxes, switches, lamps, appliances) are covered by the Swiss legal warranty: 2 years for new products from delivery date (Art. 197 et seq. CO). Manufacturer warranties may extend this period and are passed through to the clientELSM.WARRANTY.INSTALLATION) — installation work that becomes integral part of the building (e.g., wall-embedded wiring, fixed conduits, distribution boards, fixed lighting) is covered by 5 years warranty (Art. 371 CO). Repair work and minor non-integrated installations are covered by 2 yearsELSM.WARRANTY.SIA118) — when the offer or contract explicitly references the SIA 118 norm: 2-year notification period with reversed burden of proof for defects, followed by a 5-year total period for hidden defects. SIA 118 is opt-in, indicated in the offer or general terms when applicable; it does not apply by defaultThe quote includes what is written in the detail table, nothing more. VAT is shown separately. Unforeseen conditions discovered during execution are handled with documentation, estimate, and approval before proceeding — no extras billed without client consent.
Offers are valid for 3 months from the issue date (unless otherwise specified). The warranties applied are those required by Swiss law: 2 years on products (Art. 197 CO), 5 years on installation work integrated into the building (Art. 371 CO), 2 years on minor work. When the contract explicitly references the SIA 118 norm, its specific rules apply (2 years with reversed burden of proof + 5 years total for hidden defects).
Some Elettrosmart practice conventions worth knowing: for installations above 3.5 kW, distributor notification and RaSi are included by default. Independent inspection, if needed, is always a separate item. All wallboxes include a data cable to the meter.
A particular case: a 22 kW wallbox in Swiss residential context is actually limited to 11 kW by distributor regulation. The 22 kW label refers to the premium features of the model (longer cable, display, etc.), not the actual charging power.
For projects that include KNX, the initial programming (basic scenarios, logical groups, commissioning) is included in the price. Modifications and additional automations requested after delivery are treated separately as consultancy.
Programming is done with ETS, the official KNX software, under Elettrosmart license. At the end, the client receives the compiled project database and the complete documentation of the bus topology, so that any KNX-certified installer can intervene in the future without depending on us.
Elettrosmart quotes adopting Glass-Box Prompting publicly expose their conventions. When another quote for similar work also adopts the protocol (its own or equivalent), semantic comparison between the two is possible: each declares what it includes, according to which standards, with what price composition.
When the other quote does not expose its conventions, the comparison remains limited to the explicit text of each document and the final price. This is an objective property of the protocol, not a value judgment on other documents.
If you compare two quotes — ours and another — and both adopt Glass-Box Prompting, you can make an informed comparison: each declares what it includes. You (or your AI assistant) can see that one includes X and the other does not, and draw objective conclusions.
If the other quote does not publish its conventions, the comparison is incomplete by nature: you know what is explicitly written in each, but not what each issuer takes for granted. This is not a criticism of the other vendor — it is simply a limitation of available information.