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Getting started with the Prompt Library

apps/opik-documentation/documentation/fern/docs-v2/prompt_engineering/getting-started.mdx

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Your agent depends on prompts that change frequently. The Prompt Library lets you manage them outside your codebase, version each change automatically, and link the exact version that ran to its trace.

<Frame> </Frame>

Adding the Prompt Library to your code

<Tabs> <Tab title="AI Integration"> You can use the Opik skills to wire your existing agent up to the Prompt Library:
<Steps>
  <Step title="Install the Opik skill">
    ```bash
    npx skills add comet-ml/opik-skills
    ```

    This skill is compatible with all coding agents including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode and more.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Run the integration">
    Once the skill is installed, you can integrate with Opik using the following prompt:
    ```
    Version my prompts in Opik using the /instrument command.
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>
</Tab> <Tab title="Manual integration"> There are two parts: you **create** a prompt, and then you **fetch** it at runtime from inside your agent.
### Step 1 — Define and push your first prompt

Push the prompt to Opik. You only do this once (or whenever you want to create a new version
from code).

<CodeBlocks>

```python title="Python"
import opik

client = opik.Opik()

client.create_prompt(
    name="system_prompt",
    prompt="You are a helpful assistant specializing in {{domain}}.",
    project_name="my-agent",
)
```

```ts title="TypeScript"
import { Opik } from "opik";

const client = new Opik();

await client.createPrompt({
  name: "system_prompt",
  prompt: "You are a helpful assistant specializing in {{domain}}.",
  projectName: "my-agent",
});
```
</CodeBlocks>

<Tip>
  Prompts are **project-scoped**. Always pass a `project_name` / `projectName` so two agents can use the same prompt names independently.
</Tip>

### Step 2 — Fetch your prompt at runtime

Use `get_prompt` / `getPrompt` inside your agent to pull the version you want and render it
with your runtime values.

<CodeBlocks>
  ```python title="Python"
  import opik

  client = opik.Opik()

  @opik.track(project_name="my-agent")
  def run_agent(user_input: str):
      prompt = client.get_prompt(
          name="system_prompt",
          project_name="my-agent",
      )

      system_prompt = prompt.format(domain="customer support")

      response = call_llm(
          model="gpt-4o-mini",
          system_prompt=system_prompt,
          user_input=user_input,
      )
      return response
  ```

  ```ts title="TypeScript"
  import { Opik, track } from "opik";

  const client = new Opik();

  const runAgent = track(
    { name: "run_agent", projectName: "my-agent" },
    async (userInput: string) => {
      const prompt = await client.getPrompt({
        name: "system_prompt",
        projectName: "my-agent",
      });

      const systemPrompt = prompt?.format({ domain: "customer support" });

      const response = await callLlm({
        model: "gpt-4o-mini",
        systemPrompt,
        userInput,
      });
      return response;
    },
  );
  ```
</CodeBlocks>

<Tip>
  Calling `get_prompt` / `getPrompt` inside a tracked function (`@opik.track` in Python,
  `track()` in TypeScript) lets Opik link the prompt version to the trace automatically.
</Tip>
</Tab> </Tabs>

Choosing a version

Pass the version parameter to control which version is returned:

  • Omit version (default) — The most recently created version. Useful when you want the agent to pick up new prompt edits automatically.
  • "v3" (or any v<N> name) — A specific version. Useful when you want the prompt to stay fixed regardless of newer edits — for example, when reproducing a past run or comparing versions.
<CodeBlocks> ```python title="Python" # Fetch a specific version v3 = client.get_prompt(name="system_prompt", version="v3", project_name="my-agent")

Fetch the most recent version (omit version)

latest = client.get_prompt(name="system_prompt", project_name="my-agent")


```ts title="TypeScript"
// Fetch a specific version
const v3 = await client.getPrompt({
  name: "system_prompt",
  version: "v3",
  projectName: "my-agent",
});

// Fetch the most recent version (omit `version`)
const latest = await client.getPrompt({
  name: "system_prompt",
  projectName: "my-agent",
});
</CodeBlocks>

Chat prompts

For multi-turn agents with system, user, and assistant roles, use create_chat_prompt / createChatPrompt and the matching get_chat_prompt / getChatPrompt. See Text and chat prompts for a deeper comparison, multimodal content, and template engines.

<CodeBlocks> ```python title="Python" client.create_chat_prompt( name="support_assistant", messages=[ {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful support agent for {{company}}."}, {"role": "user", "content": "{{user_query}}"}, ], project_name="my-agent", )

chat_prompt = client.get_chat_prompt( name="support_assistant", version="v3", project_name="my-agent", )

messages = chat_prompt.format( variables={"company": "Acme", "user_query": "How do I reset my password?"}, )


```ts title="TypeScript"
await client.createChatPrompt({
  name: "support_assistant",
  messages: [
    { role: "system", content: "You are a helpful support agent for {{company}}." },
    { role: "user", content: "{{user_query}}" },
  ],
  projectName: "my-agent",
});

const chatPrompt = await client.getChatPrompt({
  name: "support_assistant",
  version: "v3",
  projectName: "my-agent",
});

const messages = chatPrompt?.format({
  company: "Acme",
  user_query: "How do I reset my password?",
});
</CodeBlocks>