Examples

This page provides real-world examples of how to use promptprep for different scenarios.

Working with AI Models

Preparing Code for GPT-4

When you need to share your code with AI models like GPT-4 for assistance:

promptprep -d ./my_project --format markdown --metadata --count-tokens -c

This command:

  • Scans the ./my_project directory

  • Formats the output as Markdown (great for AI models)

  • Adds metadata including token count (helps stay within context limits)

  • Copies the result to your clipboard for easy pasting

Focusing on a Specific Issue

When you need help with a specific part of your codebase:

promptprep -i "src/problematic_file.py,src/related_file.py" --format markdown -c

This command:

  • Only includes the specified files

  • Formats the output as Markdown

  • Copies the result to your clipboard

Documentation and Sharing

Creating a Project Snapshot

To create a comprehensive snapshot of your project for documentation:

promptprep -d ./src --metadata --format html -o project_snapshot.html

This command:

  • Scans the ./src directory

  • Adds metadata about your codebase

  • Creates an HTML file with syntax highlighting

  • Saves the output to project_snapshot.html

Generating Documentation for a Specific Module

To document a specific module or component:

promptprep -d ./src/module --summary-mode --format markdown -o module_docs.md

This command:

  • Focuses on the ./src/module directory

  • Uses summary mode to extract only signatures and docstrings

  • Formats the output as Markdown

  • Saves the output to module_docs.md

Code Reviews

Preparing Code for Review

When preparing code for a review:

promptprep -d ./feature_branch --diff main_branch_snapshot.txt --format highlighted -o review.html

This command:

  • Scans the ./feature_branch directory

  • Compares with a previous snapshot of the main branch

  • Creates a syntax-highlighted HTML file showing the changes

  • Saves the output to review.html

Focusing on Changed Files

To review only files that have changed since a specific time:

promptprep --incremental --last-run-timestamp 1678886400.0 --format markdown -o changes.md

This command:

  • Only processes files that have changed since the specified timestamp

  • Formats the output as Markdown

  • Saves the output to changes.md

Project Analysis

Analyzing Code Metrics

To get statistics about your codebase:

promptprep -d . --metadata --no-include-comments -o metrics.txt

This command:

  • Scans the current directory

  • Adds metadata about your codebase

  • Strips comments to focus on actual code

  • Saves the output to metrics.txt

Language-Specific Analysis

To analyze only specific file types:

promptprep -d . -x ".py" --metadata --count-tokens -o python_analysis.txt

This command:

  • Scans the current directory

  • Only includes Python files

  • Adds metadata and token count

  • Saves the output to python_analysis.txt

Advanced Use Cases

Custom Output Format

To create a custom output format:

promptprep -d . --format custom --template-file my_template.txt -o custom_output.txt

This command:

  • Scans the current directory

  • Uses a custom template for formatting

  • Saves the output to custom_output.txt

Selective File Processing

To process only specific files and exclude certain directories:

promptprep -d . -x ".js,.ts" -e "node_modules,dist,build" -o frontend_code.txt

This command:

  • Scans the current directory

  • Only includes JavaScript and TypeScript files

  • Excludes the node_modules, dist, and build directories

  • Saves the output to frontend_code.txt

Interactive Selection

To visually select which files to include:

promptprep -d . --interactive -o selected_files.txt

This command:

  • Scans the current directory

  • Launches a terminal-based file browser for selection

  • Saves the output to selected_files.txt

Workflow Integration

Continuous Integration

To generate code snapshots as part of a CI pipeline:

# In your CI script
promptprep -d . --metadata --format markdown -o snapshot.md
# Then commit or upload the snapshot

Git Hooks

To create a snapshot before committing changes:

# In .git/hooks/pre-commit
promptprep -d . --incremental --format markdown -o latest_changes.md

Team Collaboration

To share consistent code snapshots with team members:

  1. Create a team configuration:

    promptprep -d . -e "node_modules,venv,__pycache__" --format markdown --save-config team_config.json

  2. Share the configuration with team members.

  3. Team members can use the configuration:

    promptprep --load-config team_config.json -o my_snapshot.md

This ensures everyone uses the same settings when creating snapshots.