Improve Prompt
Transforms a rough prompt into a precise, structured AI coding prompt with automatic project context research.
Workflow
Execute all three phases in order. Do not skip phases.
Phase 1 — Clarify Intent
Interpret the user's rough input. Identify:
- Task type: refactor / implement / debug / add feature / migrate / review / explain
- Primary language & framework (from the input or from Phase 2 research)
- Expected output type: code only / file modification / architectural plan / explanation
If the rough prompt is ambiguous about the task type, make a reasonable inference and state it in the generated prompt's Task field.
Phase 2 — Research Project Context
Before writing a single word of the refined prompt, research the current project. Follow the steps in references/project-research-playbook.md.
Minimum required research (always run):
cat README.md 2>/dev/null | head -80
cat CLAUDE.md 2>/dev/null | head -60
cat AGENTS.md 2>/dev/null | head -60
cat .github/copilot-instructions.md 2>/dev/null | head -40
cat .cursorrules 2>/dev/null | head -40
cat package.json 2>/dev/null | head -40
find . -maxdepth 2 -type d | grep -v node_modules | grep -v .git | head -25
git log --oneline -8 2>/dev/nullRun additional research if the task references specific files or modules — use grep and glob to find them.
For full research guidance: references/project-research-playbook.md
Phase 3 — Output Refined Prompt
Using the intent from Phase 1 and the context from Phase 2, generate a structured prompt following references/ai-coding-prompt-guide.md.
Required output format:
**Role:** [specific persona matching the project stack]
**Context:** [framework + key libraries + relevant file paths with exact paths]
**Task:** [one precise action-verb sentence]
**Constraints:** [what NOT to do, style rules, size limits]
**Output format:** [code only / with explanation / diff / step-by-step then code]
**Acceptance criteria:** [testable conditions — at least one]
**References:** [exact file paths from the research phase]Output the refined prompt in a fenced code block so the user can copy it easily.
For complex tasks targeting Claude in an agentic context, prefer XML-structured format over Markdown headers — see references/ai-coding-prompt-guide.md for the template.
For field-by-field guidance and anti-patterns: references/ai-coding-prompt-guide.md
Example
User input (rough): "fix the auth"
Phase 1: Task = debug/fix, likely TypeScript/Node.js based on project, output = modified code
Phase 2: Research reveals src/auth/middleware.ts, NestJS + Passport, recent git commit shows JWT validation error
Phase 3 output:
**Role:** Senior TypeScript engineer working on a NestJS REST API with Passport and JWT
**Context:** NestJS app, `src/auth/middleware.ts` handles JWT validation using jsonwebtoken v9. TypeScript strict mode enabled. ESM module.
**Task:** Fix the JWT token validation in `src/auth/middleware.ts` — tokens are not being rejected when expired
**Constraints:** Do not change the `AuthMiddleware` class public interface. No new dependencies. Keep existing error format.
**Output format:** Modified `src/auth/middleware.ts` only, with a brief comment on each change
**Acceptance criteria:** Expired tokens return 401 with `{ error: "TOKEN_EXPIRED" }`. Valid tokens still pass through.
**References:** `src/auth/middleware.ts`, `src/auth/auth.module.ts`