Your First Prompt

Let’s create your first custom prompt with SwissArmyHammer! This guide will walk you through creating a useful code review prompt.

Understanding Prompt Structure

SwissArmyHammer prompts are markdown files with YAML front matter. Here’s the basic structure:

---
title: Your Prompt Title
description: What this prompt does
arguments:
  - name: argument_name
    description: What this argument is for
    required: true/false
    default: "optional default value"
---

# Your Prompt Content

Use {{argument_name}} to insert variables into your prompt.

Creating a Code Review Prompt

Let’s create a practical code review prompt step by step.

Step 1: Create the File

First, create a new prompt file in your prompts directory:

# Create the file
touch ~/.swissarmyhammer/prompts/code-review.md

# Or create a category directory
mkdir -p ~/.swissarmyhammer/prompts/development
touch ~/.swissarmyhammer/prompts/development/code-review.md

Step 2: Add the YAML Front Matter

Open the file in your favorite editor and add the front matter:

---
title: Code Review Assistant
description: Comprehensive code review with focus on best practices, security, and performance
arguments:
  - name: code
    description: The code to review (can be a function, class, or entire file)
    required: true
  - name: language
    description: Programming language (helps with language-specific advice)
    required: false
    default: "auto-detect"
  - name: focus
    description: Areas to focus on (security, performance, readability, etc.)
    required: false
    default: "general best practices"
---

Step 3: Write the Prompt Content

Below the front matter, add the prompt content:

# Code Review

I need a thorough code review for the following {{language}} code.

## Code to Review

```{{language}}
{{code}}

Review Focus

Please focus on: {{focus}}

Review Criteria

Please analyze the code for:

🔒 Security

• Potential security vulnerabilities
• Input validation issues
• Authentication/authorization concerns

🚀 Performance

• Inefficient algorithms or operations
• Memory usage concerns
• Potential bottlenecks

📖 Readability & Maintainability

• Code clarity and organization
• Naming conventions
• Documentation needs

🧪 Testing & Reliability

• Error handling
• Edge cases
• Testability

🏗️ Architecture & Design

• SOLID principles adherence
• Design patterns usage
• Code structure

Output Format

Please provide:

1. Overall Assessment - Brief summary of code quality
2. Specific Issues - List each issue with:
   • Severity (High/Medium/Low)
   • Location (line numbers if applicable)
   • Explanation of the problem
   • Suggested fix
3. Positive Aspects - What’s done well
4. Recommendations - Broader suggestions for improvement

Focus especially on {{focus}} in your analysis.

### Step 4: Complete File Example

Here's the complete prompt file:

```markdown
---
title: Code Review Assistant
description: Comprehensive code review with focus on best practices, security, and performance
arguments:
  - name: code
    description: The code to review (can be a function, class, or entire file)
    required: true
  - name: language
    description: Programming language (helps with language-specific advice)
    required: false
    default: "auto-detect"
  - name: focus
    description: Areas to focus on (security, performance, readability, etc.)
    required: false
    default: "general best practices"
---

# Code Review

I need a thorough code review for the following {{language}} code.

## Code to Review

```{{language}}
{{code}}

Review Focus

Please focus on: {{focus}}

Review Criteria

Please analyze the code for:

🔒 Security

• Potential security vulnerabilities
• Input validation issues
• Authentication/authorization concerns

🚀 Performance

• Inefficient algorithms or operations
• Memory usage concerns
• Potential bottlenecks

📖 Readability & Maintainability

• Code clarity and organization
• Naming conventions
• Documentation needs

🧪 Testing & Reliability

• Error handling
• Edge cases
• Testability

🏗️ Architecture & Design

• SOLID principles adherence
• Design patterns usage
• Code structure

Output Format

Please provide:

1. Overall Assessment - Brief summary of code quality
2. Specific Issues - List each issue with:
   • Severity (High/Medium/Low)
   • Location (line numbers if applicable)
   • Explanation of the problem
   • Suggested fix
3. Positive Aspects - What’s done well
4. Recommendations - Broader suggestions for improvement

Focus especially on {{focus}} in your analysis.

## Step 5: Test Your Prompt

Save the file and test that SwissArmyHammer can load it:

```bash
# Check if your prompt loads correctly
swissarmyhammer doctor

The doctor command will validate your YAML syntax and confirm the prompt is loaded.

Step 6: Use Your Prompt

1. Open Claude Code
2. Start a new conversation
3. Look for your prompt in the prompt picker - it should appear as “Code Review Assistant”
4. Fill in the parameters:
   • code: Paste some code you want reviewed
   • language: Specify the programming language (optional)
   • focus: Specify what to focus on (optional)

Understanding What Happened

When you created this prompt, SwissArmyHammer:

1. Detected the new file using its file watcher
2. Parsed the YAML front matter to understand the prompt structure
3. Made it available to Claude Code via the MCP protocol
4. Prepared for template substitution when the prompt is used

Best Practices for Your First Prompt

✅ Do’s

• Use descriptive titles and descriptions
• Document your arguments clearly
• Provide sensible defaults for optional arguments
• Structure your prompt content with clear sections
• Use template variables to make prompts flexible

❌ Don’ts

• Don’t use required arguments unless necessary
• Don’t make prompts too rigid - allow for flexibility
• Don’t forget to test your YAML syntax
• Don’t use overly complex template logic in your first prompts

Next Steps

Now that you’ve created your first prompt, you can:

1. Create more prompts for different use cases
2. Organize prompts into directories by category
3. Learn advanced template features like conditionals and loops
4. Share prompts with your team or the community

Recommended Reading

• Creating Prompts - Comprehensive guide to prompt creation
• Template Variables - Advanced template features
• Prompt Organization - How to organize your prompt library
• Built-in Prompts - Examples from the built-in library

Troubleshooting

If your prompt isn’t working:

1. Check YAML syntax - Make sure your front matter is valid YAML
2. Run doctor - swissarmyhammer doctor will catch common issues
3. Check file permissions - Make sure SwissArmyHammer can read the file
4. Restart Claude Code - Sometimes needed after creating new prompts

Common issues:

• YAML indentation errors - Use spaces, not tabs
• Missing required fields - Title and description are required
• Invalid argument structure - Check the argument format
• File encoding - Use UTF-8 encoding for your markdown files