improve-prompt

A command-line tool to enhance your AI prompts using expert prompt engineering knowledge.

What it does

improve-prompt takes your prompts and enhances them by prepending expert prompt engineering guidance, helping you get better results from AI models like GPT-4, Claude, and others.

The tool combines your input with a comprehensive system prompt that includes proven strategies and tactics for getting better results from large language models.

Installation

Install globally via npm:

npm install -g improve-prompt

Setup

Before using the tool, you need to configure your API key:

improve-prompt setup

This will prompt you to enter:

• API key: Your OpenAI API key (or compatible provider key)
• Base URL: API endpoint (default: https://api.openai.com/v1)
• Model: Model to use (default: gpt-4.1)

The configuration is saved in the ~/.improve-prompt/ folder:

• ~/.improve-prompt/.env - Contains your API configuration
• ~/.improve-prompt/system.md - Contains the system prompt (customizable)

Configuration File Format

Your .env file will look like this:

# improve-prompt configuration
# Your API key for the AI service
API_KEY=your-api-key-here

# Base URL for the API (default: https://api.openai.com/v1)
BASE_URL=https://api.openai.com/v1

# Model to use (default: gpt-4.1)
MODEL=gpt-4o

Supported Providers

The tool works with any OpenAI-compatible API:

• OpenAI: Use default base URL
• Anthropic: Set base URL to https://api.anthropic.com
• OpenRouter: Set base URL to https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
• Local models: Set base URL to your local endpoint

Customizing the System Prompt

You can customize the prompt engineering behavior by editing the system prompt:

# Edit the system prompt to customize how prompts are improved
nano ~/.improve-prompt/system.md

The first time you run the tool, it will copy the default comprehensive system prompt to this location for easy customization.

Note: If you're upgrading from an older version, the tool will automatically migrate your existing ~/.improve-prompt file to the new folder structure.

Usage

Quick Setup with Alias

For faster access, you can create an alias in your shell:

# Add to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
alias improve="pbpaste | improve-prompt | pbcopy && echo '✨ Improved prompt copied to clipboard'"

Then simply:

improve  # Improves clipboard content and copies result back

Pipe content from clipboard

pbpaste | improve-prompt

Pass prompt directly

improve-prompt "Write a function to calculate fibonacci numbers"

Pipe from file

cat my-prompt.txt | improve-prompt

Save output

echo "My prompt" | improve-prompt > improved-prompt.txt

Examples

Input:

echo "write code for user login" | improve-prompt

Output: The tool will enhance your prompt with expert guidance and return an improved version that includes:

• Clear instructions for the AI
• Context about best practices
• Specific requirements for code quality
• Examples and formatting guidelines

How it works

1. System Prompt: The tool uses a comprehensive system prompt based on OpenAI's prompt engineering best practices
2. Combination: Your input prompt is appended to the system prompt
3. API Call: The combined prompt is sent to your configured AI model
4. Clean Output: Only the improved prompt is returned

Help

improve-prompt --help          # Show general help
improve-prompt setup --help    # Show setup help

Troubleshooting

No API key configured

If you see this error:

❌ No API key configured.

To get started, run the setup command:
  improve-prompt setup

Run the setup command and enter your API key.

API errors

• Verify your API key is correct
• Check your internet connection
• Ensure you have sufficient API credits
• Verify the base URL for your provider

Attribution

Original system prompt created by @ksylvan.