Prompt Templates

Prompt templates are reusable text snippets that expand directly into the TUI input editor. Unlike skills (which are sent to the agent immediately), prompt templates let you pre-fill the editor so you can review, edit, or complete the text before sending.

How Prompt Templates Work

When you type /prompt:<name> and press Enter, the template content is loaded into the editor input. You can then modify it, add context, attach files with @, and send it normally. This is useful for long, structured prompts you use frequently.

Prompt Template Directories

sharur searches these locations (in order):

Template File Format

A prompt template is any .md file in a prompts directory. The filename (without extension) is the template name.

.sharur/prompts/bug-report.md

Invoke with:

/prompt:bug-report

Minimal Template (no frontmatter)

The entire file content becomes the template text:

Describe the bug you found:

**Steps to reproduce:**
1.
2.
3.

**Expected behavior:**

**Actual behavior:**

**Environment:**
- OS:
- shr version:
- Model:

Template with Frontmatter

Add optional YAML frontmatter for metadata:

---
description: Generate a structured bug report
argument-hint: <component-name>
---

Describe the bug you found in the $1 component:

**Steps to reproduce:**
1.
2.
3.

**Expected behavior:**

**Actual behavior:**

Frontmatter fields:

Argument Substitution

Templates support positional argument placeholders: $1, $2, etc.

When you invoke a template via the slash command handler (not the interactive TUI), arguments after the template name are substituted. To mitigate prompt injection, sharur automatically wraps these arguments in <untrusted_input> tags. In the TUI, the template expands as-is and you fill in the values manually.

Practical Examples

PR Description Template

.sharur/prompts/pr-description.md

---
description: Generate a pull request description
---

Write a pull request description for the following changes.

**Format:**
## Summary
<What does this PR do? Why?>

## Changes
<Bullet list of specific changes>

## Testing
<How was this tested?>

## Notes
<Anything reviewers should pay attention to>

The diff is:

Invoke:

/prompt:pr-description

Then paste or attach the diff before sending.

Architecture Decision Record

.sharur/prompts/adr.md

---
description: Draft an Architecture Decision Record (ADR)
argument-hint: <decision-title>
---

Draft an Architecture Decision Record (ADR) for: **$1**

Use this structure:

# ADR: $1

## Status
Proposed

## Context
<What is the issue motivating this decision?>

## Decision
<What was decided?>

## Consequences
### Positive
-

### Negative
-

### Neutral
-

## Alternatives Considered
<What other approaches were evaluated and why were they rejected?>

Invoke:

/prompt:adr Use JSONL for session storage

Global Commit Message Template

~/.sharur/prompts/commit.md

---
description: Generate a conventional commit message
---

Generate a commit message following the Conventional Commits specification for the following diff or description of changes.

Format:
` ` `
<type>(<scope>): <short description>

<body: what changed and why, wrapped at 72 chars>

<footer: breaking changes, issue references>
` ` `

Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, chore

Changes:

Invoke:

/prompt:commit

Code Explanation for PR Comments

.sharur/prompts/explain-for-review.md

---
description: Explain a code block suitable for a PR comment
---

Explain the following code in a way that's suitable for a GitHub PR review comment. Be concise (2-4 sentences max), assume the reader is a senior engineer, and highlight any non-obvious design decisions.

Code:

Tips

• Prompt templates are for your input. They expand into the editor, not directly to the agent. This gives you a chance to customize before sending.
• Use $1, $2 placeholders for dynamic parts you’ll always fill in differently. Leave static boilerplate as literal text.
• Combine with @ file attachments. Type /prompt:code-review then add @src/myfile.go before pressing Enter to attach a file.
• Project-specific overrides. A template in .sharur/prompts/ with the same name as a global template takes priority for that project.
• Organize with subdirectories. Templates are discovered recursively, so you can group them:

  .sharur/prompts/
    code/
      refactor.md
      review.md
    docs/
      readme.md
      adr.md

  Invoke as /prompt:refactor, /prompt:adr, etc. (name is the filename, not the full path).