Feature Request: Configurable system prompt - allow users to slim down fixed token overhead
- 主要語言
- Shell
- 星號
- 11.2k
- 分支
- 1.9k
- 平均合併
- 14 小時 16 分鐘
- 30 天內合併 PR
- 6
描述
### Problem
The Copilot CLI system prompt consumes ~20,500 tokens at session start before any user content is loaded. On a 200K context window, that's ~10% consumed by instructions the user may not need. Combined with tool definitions (~8,500 tokens for tool usage guidelines alone), a significant portion of the context window is unavailable for actual work.
For comparison, [pi](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono) achieves robust agent behavior with a system prompt around ~1,000 tokens — roughly 20x smaller. I understand Copilot CLI's system prompt is intentionally comprehensive to ensure consistent, high-quality behavior across diverse user skill levels and use cases, and that's a reasonable design choice. But for power users in long sessions with large codebases, the overhead is noticeable.
### Proposal
Allow users to configure which system prompt sections are loaded, similar to how `--disable-builtin-mcps` lets users opt out of MCP servers. Ideas:
1. **`--slim-prompt` flag** — Load a minimal system prompt (core instructions only, skip verbose tool guidelines)
2. **`--disable-prompt-sections` flag** — Selectively disable sections (e.g., `--disable-prompt-sections plan-mode,git-rules`)
3. **Tiered prompts** — `--prompt-level minimal|standard|full` with increasing detail
4. **Lazy tool guidelines** — Load tool usage guidelines on first use of that tool rather than at session start (highest-impact single change)
### Impact
For power users who already know the tool conventions, trimming verbose guidelines could save 5,000-8,000 tokens — meaningful headroom for longer sessions and larger codebases. This would let Copilot CLI preserve its comprehensive defaults while giving experienced users an opt-in path to leaner sessions.
### Environment
- Copilot CLI v1.0.22
- Claude Opus 4.6
- Windows 11
貢獻指南
研究方向
未指定檔案、測試或實作入口。首先定位 Copilot CLI 組裝系統提示詞和工具指南的位置,然後釐清應實作所提議的哪種設定模型。完成內容應包括一種 opt-in 方式,以減少提示詞開銷,同時保留預設行為。
由索引模型根據 Issue 內容生成。
評估
- 技術堆疊
- shell
- 領域
- ai, cli
- Issue 類型
- 功能
- 難度
- 5/5
- 預估耗時
- 一週以上
- 活躍度
- 活躍
- 描述清晰度
- 需要釐清
- 新手友好度
- 42/100