manual_slop/conductor/tracks/cull_hidden_prompts_20260502/plan.md

Implementation Plan: Expose/Cull Hidden Invisible Prompting

Phase 1: Audit and Identification

• Task: Audit src/ai_client.py to identify all hardcoded _SYSTEM_PROMPT strings and tool execution instructions.
• Task: Audit src/aggregate.py to identify all injected context markers (e.g., [SYSTEM: FILES UPDATED]).
• Task: Document identified hidden prompts and determine their necessity vs. redundancy.
• Task: Conductor - User Manual Verification 'Phase 1: Audit and Identification' (Protocol in workflow.md)

Phase 2: Expose Necessary Prompts in GUI

• Task: Modify src/gui_2.py to add new editable text areas in the "AI Settings" or "Project Settings" panel.
  • Create fields for global system tool instructions.
  • Create fields for project-specific context markers.
• Task: Update src/app_controller.py state initialization to load these new fields from config.toml and manual_slop.toml.
• Task: Ensure changes are correctly saved and flushed to the project files via _flush_to_project() and _flush_to_config().
• Task: Conductor - User Manual Verification 'Phase 2: Expose Necessary Prompts in GUI' (Protocol in workflow.md)

Phase 3: Cull and Integrate Configured Prompts

• Task: Update src/ai_client.py's _get_combined_system_prompt() to utilize the user-configured tool instructions from the AppController state instead of hardcoded strings.
• Task: Update src/aggregate.py or src/ai_client.py to use the user-configured context markers (like [FILES UPDATED]) instead of hardcoded ones.
• Task: Remove the legacy hardcoded strings from the codebase.
• Task: Run tests to ensure tool execution and context refresh still function correctly.
• Task: Conductor - User Manual Verification 'Phase 3: Cull and Integrate Configured Prompts' (Protocol in workflow.md)