Prompt
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What is Prompt?
The message you give an AI model or agent describing what you want. How much detail it needs depends on how much of the answer you already know.
A prompt gives an AI a goal and any useful context, boundaries, or checks. When you have no idea yet, a conversation can help make the plan. When you know the goal but not the details, leave room for the model to work them out and improve through feedback. When you know the exact fix, spell out the context, task, checks, and limits so it does not have to guess.
How it relates to Orbit
In Orbit, a prompt is a numbered unit of work for a coding agent that waits in the project’s queue until you approve it. See The Prompt Queue for details.
When you would use it
You write a prompt whenever you ask an AI for help. Match its detail to how much of the answer you already have, then give the agent a way to check whether it is done.
Common operations
- No idea yet: "I want an app to keep track of my recipes. Let's talk it through before you build anything."
- Know the goal: "Build a Tetris-style game set in space. Sketch art look. Add 2 or 3 cool features, surprise me. Use another agent as a critic and keep looping until it's actually fun."
- Know the exact fix: "Context: the signup test fails when the email has a plus sign. Task: fix the email check. How to check: the signup tests pass, including a new one for plus-sign emails. What not to do: don't delete or skip the failing test, and don't change the other signup rules."