# Specification: System Context Exposure

## 1. Overview

This track exposes the hidden system prompt from `ai_client.py` to users for customization.

**Current Problem:**
- `_SYSTEM_PROMPT` in `ai_client.py` (lines ~118-143) is hardcoded
- It contains foundational instructions: "You are a helpful coding assistant with access to a PowerShell tool..."
- Users can only see/appending their custom portion via `_custom_system_prompt`
- The base prompt that defines core agent capabilities is invisible

**Goal:**
- Make `_SYSTEM_PROMPT` visible and editable in the UI
- Allow users to customize the foundational agent instructions
- Maintain sensible defaults while enabling expert customization

## 2. Current State Audit

### Hidden System Prompt Location
`src/ai_client.py`:
```python
_SYSTEM_PROMPT: str = (
 "You are a helpful coding assistant with access to a PowerShell tool (run_powershell) and MCP tools (file access: read_file, list_directory, search_files, get_file_summary, web access: web_search, fetch_url). "
 "When calling file/directory tools, always use the 'path' parameter for the target path. "
 ...
)
```

### Related State
- `_custom_system_prompt` - user-defined append/injection
- `_get_combined_system_prompt()` - merges both
- `set_custom_system_prompt()` - setter for user portion

### UI Current State
- AI Settings → System Prompts shows global and project prompts
- These are injected as `[USER SYSTEM PROMPT]` after `_SYSTEM_PROMPT`
- But `_SYSTEM_PROMPT` itself is never shown

## 3. Functional Requirements

### 3.1 Base System Prompt Visibility
- Add "Base System Prompt" section in AI Settings
- Display current `_SYSTEM_PROMPT` content
- Allow editing with syntax highlighting (it's markdown text)

### 3.2 Default vs Custom Base
- Maintain default base prompt as reference
- User can reset to default if they mess it up
- Show diff between default and custom

### 3.3 Persistence
- Custom base prompt stored in config or project TOML
- Loaded on app start
- Applied before `_custom_system_prompt` in `_get_combined_system_prompt()`

### 3.4 Provider Considerations
- Some providers handle system prompts differently
- Verify behavior across Gemini, Anthropic, DeepSeek
- May need provider-specific base prompts

## 4. Data Model

### 4.1 Config Storage
```toml
[ai_settings]
base_system_prompt = """..."""
use_default_base = true
```

### 4.2 Combined Prompt Order
1. `_SYSTEM_PROMPT` (or custom base if enabled)
2. `[USER SYSTEM PROMPT]` (from AI Settings global/project)
3. Tooling strategy (from bias engine)

## 5. UI Design

**Location:** AI Settings panel → System Prompts section

```
┌─ System Prompts ──────────────────────────────┐
│ ☑ Use Default Base System Prompt              │
│                                              │
│ Base System Prompt (collapsed by default):    │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ You are a helpful coding assistant...     │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│                                              │
│ [Show Editor] [Reset to Default]              │
│                                              │
│ Global System Prompt:                         │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ [current global prompt content]           │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

When "Show Editor" clicked:
- Expand to full editor for base prompt
- Syntax highlighting for markdown
- Character count

## 6. Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] `_SYSTEM_PROMPT` visible in AI Settings
- [ ] User can edit base system prompt
- [ ] Changes persist across app restarts
- [ ] "Reset to Default" restores original
- [ ] Provider APIs receive modified prompt correctly
- [ ] No regression in agent behavior with defaults

## 7. Out of Scope
- Changes to actual agent behavior logic
- Changes to tool definitions or availability
- Changes to aggregation or context handling

## 8. Dependencies
- `ai_client.py` - `_SYSTEM_PROMPT` and `_get_combined_system_prompt()`
- `gui_2.py` - AI Settings panel rendering
- `models.py` - Config structures