@elizaos/prompts

Shared prompt templates for elizaOS across TypeScript, Python, and Rust runtimes.

Overview

This package provides a single source of truth for all prompt templates used by elizaOS agents. Prompts are stored as .txt files and generated into native formats for each language.

Structure

packages/prompts/
├── prompts/           # Source prompt templates (.txt files)
│   ├── reply.txt
│   ├── choose_option.txt
│   ├── image_generation.txt
│   └── ...
├── scripts/           # Build scripts
│   └── generate.js    # Generates native code from prompts
├── dist/              # Generated output
│   ├── typescript/    # TypeScript exports
│   ├── python/        # Python module
│   └── rust/          # Rust source
└── package.json

Template Syntax

All prompts use Handlebars-style template variables:

• {{variableName}} - Simple variable substitution
• {{#each items}}...{{/each}} - Iteration over arrays
• {{#if condition}}...{{/if}} - Conditional blocks

Variable Naming Convention

Use camelCase for all template variables to ensure consistency across languages:

• {{agentName}} - The agent's name
• {{providers}} - Provider context
• {{recentMessages}} - Recent conversation messages

Building

# Build all targets
npm run build

# Build specific target
npm run build:typescript
npm run build:python
npm run build:rust

Usage

TypeScript

import { REPLY_TEMPLATE, CHOOSE_OPTION_TEMPLATE } from "@elizaos/prompts";

const prompt = composePrompt({
  state: { agentName: "Alice" },
  template: REPLY_TEMPLATE,
});

Python

from elizaos.prompts import REPLY_TEMPLATE, CHOOSE_OPTION_TEMPLATE

prompt = compose_prompt(state={'agentName': 'Alice'}, template=REPLY_TEMPLATE)

Rust

use elizaos_prompts::{REPLY_TEMPLATE, CHOOSE_OPTION_TEMPLATE};

let prompt = compose_prompt(&state, REPLY_TEMPLATE);

Adding New Prompts

1. Create a new .txt file in prompts/ directory
2. Name the file using snake_case (e.g., my_new_action.txt)
3. Run npm run build to generate native code
4. The prompt will be exported as MY_NEW_ACTION_TEMPLATE in all languages

Plugin Prompts

Plugins can use the same prompt system! See README-PLUGIN-PROMPTS.md for details on how to set up prompts in your plugin.

The scripts/generate-plugin-prompts.js utility can be used by any plugin to generate TypeScript, Python, and Rust exports from .txt prompt templates.

Template Guidelines

1. Start with a task description - Begin prompts with # Task: to clearly state the objective
2. Include providers placeholder - Use {{providers}} where provider context should be injected
3. Use XML output format - Standardize on XML response format for consistent parsing
4. Add clear instructions - Include explicit instructions for the LLM
5. End with output format - Always specify the expected output format

Example:

# Task: Generate dialog for the character {{agentName}}.

{{providers}}

# Instructions: Write the next message for {{agentName}}.

Respond using XML format like this:
<response>
    <thought>Your thought here</thought>
    <text>Your message here</text>
</response>

IMPORTANT: Your response must ONLY contain the <response></response> XML block above.

Security & Privacy Guidance (SOC2-aligned)

• Do not embed real secrets in prompt templates. Prompts are source-controlled and often distributed.
• Avoid including PII (emails, phone numbers, addresses, IDs) in templates or examples.
• Prefer placeholders (e.g., {{apiKey}}, {{userEmail}}) and ensure the runtime injects only the minimum needed.

Secret scan

This package includes a conservative scanner that flags prompt templates containing strings that strongly resemble real credentials (or private key material).

Run:

npm run check:secrets

It scans:

• packages/prompts/prompts/**/*.txt
• plugins/**/prompts/**/*.txt