@yankeeinlondon/promptly/src/help.ts

An automation tool for prompting your favorite LLMs

import chalk from "chalk";
import { INFO, INFO2, link, log } from "./utils";

export function help() {
  log();
  log(chalk.bold.blue("prompt ") + chalk.bgWhiteBright.blackBright(" CLI "));
  log(chalk.dim.italic(`a CLI for building powerful AI prompts.`));
  log();

  log(`- ${chalk.bold("Syntax:")} ${chalk.bold.blue("prompt")} <${chalk.dim.italic("prompt file ref")}> ${chalk.grey.italic("<prompt file ref>")}${chalk.dim("[]")} "<${chalk.dim.italic("freeform text")}>"`);
  log();
  log(`    ${INFO} ${chalk.italic("prompt files")} should be markdown or text files with either \n       a .md or .txt file extension.`);
  log(`    ${INFO} the ${chalk.italic("directories")} where these files should reside are:`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} by default it will look in "${chalk.blueBright(`\${${chalk.yellow("ProjRoot")}}/prompts`)}" directory ${chalk.italic("(and sub-directories)")}`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} if you want to ${chalk.italic("add")} more directories to the possible locations just set the ${chalk.bold("PROMPTS")}`);
  log(`          env variable. This variable will be delimited by the ${chalk.bold.blue(":")} character as is common`);
  log(`          in ENV variables.`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} you can also add a ${chalk.blue.bold(".prompt.json")} file in the ProjRoot of a repo and set ${chalk.bold.blue("promptDirs")} to the `);
  log(`          directory/directories you want to use within this repo.  When this property is set`);
  log(`          the ${chalk.italic("default")} value of "${chalk.blueBright(`\${${chalk.yellow("ProjRoot")}}/prompts`)}" will be ${chalk.bold("overwritten")} but any additional`);
  log(`          directories you've specified with the ${chalk.bold("PROMPT")} ENV variable will still be used`);
  log(`          for fallback.`);
  log();
  log(`- ${chalk.bold("Prompt Files")}`);
  log();
  log(`    ${INFO} prompt files are text files with super powers`);
  log(`    ${INFO} we recommend Markdown files but plain text files are ok too`);
  log(`    ${INFO} any line in a prompt file which starts with ${chalk.bold.green("::code")} is a "code reference directive":`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} an example usage would be: ${chalk.bold.green("::code Dictionary.ts, Data.json")}`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} using this example, the filenames ${chalk.bold.blue("Dictionary.ts")} and ${chalk.bold.blue("Data.json")} will be searched`);
  log(`          for in the ${chalk.italic("code path")}; where the "code path" is by default the following:`);
  log(`               - "${chalk.blueBright(`\${${chalk.yellow("ProjRoot")}}/src`)}"`);
  log(`               - "${chalk.blueBright(`\${${chalk.yellow("ProjRoot")}}/test`)}"`);
  log(`               - "${chalk.blueBright(`\${${chalk.yellow("ProjRoot")}}/tests`)}"`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} by setting the ${chalk.bold.blue("codePath")} variable in a repo's ${chalk.blue.bold(".prompt.json")} file you can`);
  log(`          override this to whatever you want`);
  log(`     ${INFO} in addition to ${chalk.italic("code")} references there are also ${chalk.bold("web")} and ${chalk.bold("doc")} references:`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} a ${chalk.bold("web")} reference brings in a summary for a webpage`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} a ${chalk.bold("doc")} reference allows the injection of ${chalk.italic("sub-contextual")} information and`);
  log(`          allows for more granular reuse patterns`);
  log(`    ${INFO} see the ${link(chalk.bold.blue.underline("docs"), `https://github.com/yankeeinlondon/promptly/README.md`)} for more info on these reference types`);

  log();
  log(`- ${chalk.bold("CLI Flags")}`);
  log();
  log(`    ${INFO} ${chalk.bgGrey.whiteBright(` --output ${chalk.dim("<filename>")} `)}, ${chalk.bgGrey.whiteBright(` -o ${chalk.dim("<filename>")} `)}`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} every successful run of the CLI puts the ${chalk.italic("interpolated")} prompt on the clipboard`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} by having it on the clipboard it becomes easy to copy it into open chat`);
  log(`          windows ${chalk.italic.dim("(if that's how you role)")}`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} but using this flag allows you to export it to a local file if you prefer`);

  log(`    ${INFO} ${chalk.bgGrey.whiteBright(` --replace `)}`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} similar to the --output flag but instead of providing a file name, it will ${chalk.italic("replace")}`);
  log(`          the input prompt templates with ${chalk.italic("interpolated")} versions of themselves`);

  log(`    ${INFO} ${chalk.bgGrey.whiteBright(" --aider ")}`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} this CLI can be used as a ${chalk.italic("frontend")} for ${link(chalk.bold.blue("Aider"), "https://aider.org")}`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} when this flag is used the ${chalk.bold("web")} and ${chalk.bold("file")} interpolations normally done will instead`);
  log(`          be converted into ${chalk.blue.bold("/add")} and ${chalk.blue.bold("/web")} commands and the Prompt along with these commands`);
  log(`          will be streamed into aider and processed there`);

  log(`    ${INFO} ${chalk.bgGrey.whiteBright(" --dry-run ")}`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} prevents the references found in Prompt files from being interpolated into the prompts`);
  log(`        ${INFO2} instead it just reports on the structure of the prompt `);
  log(`        ${INFO2} useful way to quickly check that your CLI command is structurally sound`);
}