Prompts & Context

Multiline Blocks

Fields like prompt and command support multiline content. Write the key followed by :, then indent the content on subsequent lines:

  agent MyAgent
    prompt:
      You are a code reviewer.

      ## Rules
      - Check for bugs
      - Check for security issues

      ## Context
      ${ctx.last_response}

The first content line’s indentation sets the baseline. All content is de-indented by that amount. Empty lines are preserved. The block ends when indentation returns to or above the field’s level. No quoting or escaping needed.

  tool RunTests
    timeout: 60s
    command:
      #!/bin/sh
      set -eu
      if pytest --tb=short 2>&1; then
        printf 'pass'
      else
        printf 'fail'
        exit 1
      fi

Agent Prompt Fields

Agent nodes carry the prompt content sent to the model. A prompt can be written inline as a multiline block or loaded from an external file, and a system prompt (persona / role instructions) can be supplied the same way.

The Defaults Prompt Cascade

The prompt_prefix/prompt_suffix (inline) and prompt_prefix_file/prompt_suffix_file (fragment file) defaults cascade a shared prompt fragment to every agent (#175). This lets you author a shared fragment once — a status contract, a house style, a protocol — and have it wrap every agent’s own prompt.

  defaults
    model: claude-opus-4-6
    provider: anthropic
    prompt_suffix_file: protocols/status-contract.md

Composition order

The effective prompt is composed as prefix → body → prompt_include → suffix at resolve time, with the suffix always last. Parts are joined with a fixed blank line (\n\n), and only non-empty parts are joined — so the cascade suffix is always the final content, satisfying “the very last line MUST be exactly …” contracts.

A body-less passthrough agent (no own prompt or include — e.g. a declared start:/exit: node) is skipped so the cascade never synthesizes a prompt on it (#248, #249).

Opting out

An agent opts out with prompt_suffix: none / prompt_prefix: none.

An agent that sets prompt_prefix: none / prompt_suffix: none while the defaults block declares no cascade of that kind raises DIP154 — the opt-out is a no-op.

The system-prompt fallback

The system_prompt_file default (#72) is different in kind from the prefix/suffix cascade: it is a fallback shared system prompt (persona) — used only by agents that declare no system_prompt/system_prompt_file of their own, which fully override it. It is file form only.

Context Truncation

The last_response_truncate field caps how much of the prior node’s response is carried into an agent’s context, in characters.

It is also available as a parallel branch override, where 0/unset inherits the target agent’s cap. The field is carried and linted by dippin but the truncation is performed by a paired runtime. A negative value raises DIP148.

Interpolation

Prompts can reference workflow context and declared inputs with ${…} placeholders:

• ${ctx.*} — values from the runtime context channel, e.g. ${ctx.last_response} (the prior node’s response) or ${ctx.outcome}.
• ${inputs.*} — a declared workflow input, e.g. ${inputs.idea}. The inputs namespace is closed — see Inputs.

  agent Analyze
    prompt:
      Review the request below.

      ## Task
      ${inputs.idea}

      ## Prior response
      ${ctx.last_response}