PROMPTME

Originally Published:

Tags: [ #AI ]

Begin your project with a PROMPTME and end with a README.

Problem

07/2024 Chatbot AI

I find informal chats with GenAI sometimes tedious and repetitive. They loose context, pull in the wrong context, or I have to restate my questions. To get out of this loop, I formalized my prompts into an external text file. In this file, I added my main objective, the facts I knew about the current state of the system, the things I needed to do, and the questions I still had. I realized by doing this, I effectively had created a README for prompts. So, I called it a PROMPTME.

In software development, a README is a declaration of what the system does, describes the system's purpose, how to install it, and how to use it. A PROMPTME, however, is a plan for what the system will do. It is a document that describes the system's goals, what needs to be done, and what questions need to be answered. As an added bonus, since it's a text file, it can be committed to source!

02/2026 Agentic AI Update

With agentic AI, I use a PROMPTME to specify to the agent the plan for what to do. The agent is usually a helpful collaborator in creating a PROMPTME. I commit the PROMPTME to a feature branch and send the agent off to make changes to source on that branch.

As a prototype, the agent can create solutions that you don't fully understand. Ask questions about your prototype. Have the agent refactor the prototype into a better structured solution. But, you must be disciplined in setting that code aside after you have gained some understanding in the process. Formalize your thoughts in your PROMPTME and repeat!

Sample PROMPTME Template

The following is an example template to get you going, but any formal structure will do.

# {TITLE}

> {DESCRIPTION}

## Facts

<!-- Describe the relevant facts. -->
- ...

## Requirements

<!-- Describe the requirements you are trying to meet. -->
- ...

## Tasks

<!-- Describe what needs to be done. -->
- ...

## Questions

<!-- Describe any open questions. -->
- ...

Example

Try it out for yourself! Post the contents of the following PROMPTME.md in your favorite chatbot and see how it goes.

# Kubernetes Log Viewer

> As a kube developer, I want to have a single-pane-of-glass for viewing the logs of the 
> pods running in a Kubernetes cluster.

## Facts

- The cluster is running in Azure with the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
- The infrastructure-as-code platform is Ansible.
- The deployment code runs in a GitLab CI/CD pipeline.
- The service in the cluster uses Azure Entra ID for authentication.
- I am already familiar with Prometheus and Grafana.

## Requirements

- The application should provide a user interface to view the logs of pods running in a namespace.
- The infrastructure manifest for deploying the log viewer should be defined in Ansible tasks.
- The log viewer should be deployed in the same namespace as the pods it is monitoring.
- The log viewer should be open source and not require any payments to use.
- The log viewer should be route-able from the ingress controller.
- The log viewer should be authenticated with Microsoft Entra ID by role.

## Options

- Grafana Loki
- Prometheus

## Preferences

- Use the [Cloud Native Computing Foundation](https://www.cncf.io/) as 
the authoritative source of options.

## Questions

- Can you walk me through how to setup a log viewer?  I would like the full 
implementation details; not just a plan for implementation.