# Prompts

> Read and change everything the agents are told.

Open settings (the gear icon), then **Prompts**. Pick one, edit it and hit **Save**. **Reset to default** brings the
built-in text back.

*[Picture: The settings dialog's Prompts tab, with an edited prompt open]*

| Prompt | What it is |
|---|---|
| `protocol` | The system prompt: requests, markers, the reply tools and the rules. [Read it here](https://solipsist.sh/docs/agents/protocol/). |
| `run` | What each run is sent: the request, the page, the kinds of request waiting. |
| `run.project` | Added to the run prompt for a page copied from a file. Says where the original is. |
| `protocol.envelope` | The text reply format, for agents that don't have reply tools. |
| `images` | How to draw an image. The agent reads it when it needs it. |
| `run.again` | Added on Ask again, with the result you turned down. |
| `run.next` | The short prompt for each turn after the first in single-agent mode. |
| `run.button`, `run.as_button` | Running a button again, and Ask again as a button. |
| `type.gen`, `type.sel`, `type.img` | One for each kind of request. |
| `review`, `review.<reviewer>` | Page review. |
| `chat.first`, `pi-chat.system`, `pi-chat.first` | The chats. |

## Where your edits are saved

Your edits are saved outside the repository, one markdown file per prompt, in `prompts.dir` (default
`~/.config/solipsist/prompts`, or `SOLIPSIST_PROMPTS_DIR`): `protocol.md`, `run.md`, `type.gen.md`, and so on. A
prompt with no file uses the built-in text. You can edit or delete the files by hand, since they're read every time
they're used.

- A change takes effect on the next run and the next agent that starts. An agent that's already running or waiting
  keeps the instructions it started with.
- Some prompts are templates with `{slots}` that the server fills in (the dialog lists them). A required slot has to
  stay in the text. If you save without it, the save is refused and tells you why.
- If you save text that's identical to the built-in, the file is removed.

Source: https://solipsist.sh/docs/agents/prompts/