Update system prompt

[adyanthm]

What I Did

Referred to the leaked system prompts of tools like Cursor, Windsurf, Trae, and other agentic IDEs, and crafted a specialized system prompt. This new prompt is designed to make the model strictly adhere to both agentic-mode instructions and the user's intent, improving the overall developer experience.

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What It Changes

The default system prompt isn't strict or directive enough for smaller, local, or non-agent-aware models. Such models often ask multiple clarifying questions (5–6 on average) before beginning the task.

This new prompt was designed and tuned specifically for:

• OpenAI’s O series (e.g., GPT-4o)
• Locally hosted models

With this change, the model is capable of initiating full project generation from a single, high-level prompt, rather than requesting further clarification.

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Key Improvements

• Enables models to actually modify files instead of only generating code blocks in responses.

• Makes the system prompt more actionable, reducing friction for developers and enabling real-time coding experiences.

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My Opinion

Compared to the default system prompt, this enhanced version is a major step forward — especially for locally hosted or prompt-sensitive models. While it still isn’t on par with Cursor or Windsurf’s prompt-engineering depth, it’s a substantial improvement.

👉 Please review and consider integrating this updated system prompt in the next release.

[tkhwang]

@adyanthm Can I ask one thing on this change ?

As I read PR, a lot of prompts are updated for agent, finally agentSystemMessage().

I could find chat_systemMessage() is used for chat mode, but couldn't find where agentSystemMessage() is called.
Where is agentSystemMessage() used ?

void/src/vs/workbench/contrib/void/browser/convertToLLMMessageService.ts

Line 596 in a7eb54a

const systemMessage = chat_systemMessage({ workspaceFolders, openedURIs, directoryStr, activeURI, persistentTerminalIDs, chatMode, mcpTools, includeXMLToolDefinitions })

	// system message
	private _generateChatMessagesSystemMessage = async (chatMode: ChatMode, specialToolFormat: 'openai-style' | 'anthropic-style' | 'gemini-style' | undefined) => {
...
		const systemMessage = chat_systemMessage({ workspaceFolders, openedURIs, directoryStr, activeURI, persistentTerminalIDs, chatMode, mcpTools, includeXMLToolDefinitions })
		return systemMessage
	}

Should agentSystemMessage() be called in above line by checking it's mode agent ?

		const systemMessage = chatMode === 'agent'
			? agentSystemMessage({ workspaceFolders, openedURIs, directoryStr, activeURI, persistentTerminalIDs, mcpTools, includeXMLToolDefinitions })
			: chat_systemMessage({ workspaceFolders, openedURIs, directoryStr, activeURI, persistentTerminalIDs, chatMode, mcpTools, includeXMLToolDefinitions })

If I am wrong, please let me know.

[adyanthm]

Oh yes sorry! I have mentioned that my prompt is specifically modded for agent. Its from my modded fork. I have only agent mode in my fork so i just set the system prompt without checking for agent mode. Can you fix it??

[tkhwang]

It seems that I couldn't add commit in your PR and I just share the change.
As I mentioned, the following change is using updated prompt in agent mode, and still uses legacy prompt for other mode (chat and gather).

void/src/vs/workbench/contrib/void/browser/convertToLLMMessageService.ts

Line 596 in a7eb54a

const systemMessage = chat_systemMessage({ workspaceFolders, openedURIs, directoryStr, activeURI, persistentTerminalIDs, chatMode, mcpTools, includeXMLToolDefinitions })

// before
		const systemMessage = chat_systemMessage({ workspaceFolders, openedURIs, directoryStr, activeURI, persistentTerminalIDs, chatMode, mcpTools, includeXMLToolDefinitions })
// after
import { ..., agentSystemMessage } from "../common/prompt/prompts.js";
...
		const systemMessage = chatMode === 'agent'
			? agentSystemMessage({ workspaceFolders, openedURIs, directoryStr, activeURI, persistentTerminalIDs, mcpTools, includeXMLToolDefinitions })
			: chat_systemMessage({ workspaceFolders, openedURIs, directoryStr, activeURI, persistentTerminalIDs, chatMode, mcpTools, includeXMLToolDefinitions })

You can check systemMessage using console.log(systemMessage) in chat, gather and agent mode.

[adyanthm]

I am busy with another project at moment. I gave you collab access to my forked repo. Please commit the changes there if you can.

[tkhwang]

applied it.

[adyanthm]

@andrewpareles Look into this and merge this asap.