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Prompt files

Prompt files provide a convenient way to standardize common patterns and share a collection of LLM prompts with your team. They make it easy to build and use these prompts.

Quick start​

Prompt library

To assist you in getting started, we've curated a small library of .prompt files. We encourage community contributions to this repository, so please consider opening up a pull request with your own prompts!

Below is a quick example of setting up a prompt file to write unit tests using Jest.

  1. Create a folder called .prompts/ at the top level of your workspace.
  2. Add a file called test.prompt to this folder. The name of this file will be the name of the slash command you will use to generate your prompt.
  3. Write the following contents to test.prompt and save.
temperature: 0.5
maxTokens: 4096
---
<system>
You are an expert programmer
</system>

{{{ input }}}

Write unit tests for the above selected code, following each of these instructions:
- Use `jest`
- Properly set up and tear down
- Include important edge cases
- The tests should be complete and sophisticated
- Give the tests just as chat output, don't edit any file
- Don't explain how to set up `jest`

Now to use this prompt, you can highlight code and use cmd/ctrl + L to select it in the Continue sidebar.

Then, type "/" to see the list of slash commands and choose the one called "test". Press enter and the LLM will respond given the instructions from your prompt file.

Format​

The format is inspired by HumanLoops's .prompt file, with additional templating to use context providers and built-in variables using Handlebars syntax.

info

The current state of this format is experimental and subject to change

Preamble​

The "preamble" is everything above the --- separator, and lets you specify model parameters. It uses YAML syntax and currently supports the following parameters:

  • name
  • temperature
  • topP
  • topK
  • minP
  • presencePenalty
  • frequencyPenalty
  • mirostat
  • stop
  • maxTokens
  • description

If you don't need any of these parameters, you can leave out the preamble and do not need to include the --- separator.

System message​

To add a system message, start the body with <system></system> tags like in the example above and place your system message inside.

Built-in variables​

The following built-in variables are currently available:

  • {{{ input }}} - The full text from the input box in the sidebar that is sent along with the slash command
  • {{{ currentFile }}} - The currently open file in your IDE
  • {{{ ./path/to/file.js }}} - Any file can be directly referenced

Context providers​

Any context provider that you have added to your config can be referenced using the name of the context provider. Context providers that receive an input are also supported.

  • {{{ terminal }}} - The contents of the terminal
  • {{{ url "https://github.com/continuedev/continue" }}} - The contents of a URL

Feedback​

If you have ideas about how to improve the .prompt file format, please reach out on Discord.