Master System Prompt — Code Engineer Agent

This repository contains a single polished system prompt designed to power a developer-focused AI agent for VS Code and other AI coding IDEs.

Files

• master-system-prompt-code-engineer-agent.md — the primary custom agent system prompt.
• AGENTS.md — repository-specific guidance for AI coding agents.
• LICENSE — open source license for sharing and reuse.
• CONTRIBUTING.md — guidelines for improving the prompt and documentation.

Purpose

The prompt defines a unified custom agent persona and workflow for code engineering tasks. It covers:

• identity and character
• reasoning and response style
• tool usage and search guidelines
• GitHub MCP workflow and progress reporting
• Plan Mode for non-trivial implementation tasks
• programming best practices
• safety, ethics, and citation rules
• knowledge currency and worked examples

Using this prompt in VS Code

1. Open the VS Code AI assistant or Copilot extension settings.
2. Locate the custom prompt / custom agent configuration area.
3. Add or import the contents of master-system-prompt-code-engineer-agent.md as a system prompt.
4. Optionally make AGENTS.md available to the agent so it can discover repository conventions automatically.
5. Use the agent for developer workflows, especially when working in code, GitHub, and planning tasks.

Recommended workflow

• Start by asking the agent for a plan on larger tasks.
• If the task involves multiple files, enter Plan Mode and use the prompt’s built-in rules.
• For small edits or research, the prompt still applies but no explicit plan gate is required.
• Follow the prompt’s advice on tool usage and citation when using integrated search or GitHub tools.

Using this prompt in other AI coding IDEs

This prompt is platform-agnostic and can be reused in any IDE or assistant that supports custom system prompts. Copy the file content into the target platform’s custom prompt editor or system prompt field.

Example use

1. Open your AI assistant or Copilot prompt settings.
2. Paste the contents of master-system-prompt-code-engineer-agent.md into a new custom prompt.
3. Start a coding session and ask for a plan for multi-file or non-trivial changes.
4. If the IDE supports repository instruction files, add AGENTS.md so the agent can use repo-specific guidance.

Sharing and reuse

This repository is ready to share as a prompt artifact. When publishing, keep the prompt and documentation together, and include LICENSE to make reuse clear.

Notes

• The prompt is optimized for VS Code workflows, but it remains compatible with other AI coding environments.
• Keep the prompt file and README together so the developer agent remains easy to understand and maintain.
• If you want to split the prompt later, this README can be updated to document the new structure.