Prompt templates

A prompt template is a Markdown file that becomes a command. You type /name some words, and Tatu sends the file’s text as your message, with your words put in where you asked.

Save this as ~/.tatu/prompts/design.md:

---
description: Design a change before coding
argument-hint: "<slug> [focus]"
---
Design the change "$1" and write the design to docs/${1:-design}.md.
Implement nothing. Focus on: ${@:2}

Start Tatu and type:

/design login-page the error messages

The model receives the file’s text with $1 replaced by login-page and ${@:2} by the error messages.

Where the files go

Folder	Applies to
`~/.tatu/prompts/`	every project (`prompts/` inside `TATU_HOME`, if you set it)
`.tatu/prompts/` in a project	that project only

The file prompts/<name>.md is the command /<name>. Files in subfolders are not read, and neither are names that start with a dot or contain a space. Tatu reads the folders when it starts, so restart it after you add or edit a template.

If a project and your global folder both have design.md, the project’s wins, and a note at startup says so. A name that is already a built-in command (such as /model) is never replaced; the template is ignored, with a note.

The front matter

The front matter is optional. It sits between two lines of --- at the top of the file.

Field	What it does
`description`	the text shown beside the command in the suggestions. Without it, Tatu uses the first line of the file, cut at 60 characters.
`argument-hint`	a hint for the arguments, shown before the description (`<slug> [focus]`).

Write each field on one line, as key: value. A value can be in quotes. A comment after a value is not a comment: it becomes part of the value. Other fields are ignored.

Arguments

Tatu splits what you type after the command the way a shell does: spaces separate words, and '...' or "..." keep words together. There are no escapes.

Write	You get
`$1`, `$2`, …	the first argument, the second, and so on. Empty when there is none.
`$@` or `$ARGUMENTS`	all the arguments, joined by spaces
`${1:-fallback}`	the first argument, or `fallback` when it is empty. Works with `$@` and `$ARGUMENTS` too.
`${@:2}`	all arguments from the second on
`${@:2:3}`	three arguments, starting at the second

Text that Tatu puts in is never searched for placeholders again, so an argument that contains $1 stays as you typed it. In the other direction, you cannot write a literal $1 in a template: a $ followed by a number, @ or ARGUMENTS is always a placeholder.

If the template has no placeholder at all, your arguments are added at the end, after a blank line, so they are not lost.

How it shows

In the conversation the message appears as the line you typed, followed by the kind in dim text:

› /design login-page the error messages (prompt)

The model got the full text. Press Ctrl+O to see it under that line. In the suggestions that appear when you type /, your templates are listed with (prompt) at the end of the description.

Templates also work in print mode: tatu -p "/design login-page" expands the template and sends it.

Limits

A template body is cut at 32 KiB, with a note at startup. A file that is not text is ignored. A file whose front matter is not closed with a second --- is ignored, with a note.