System Prompt Builder

How LucidPal assembles the AI's system prompt from modular, permission-aware sections.

Overview

SystemPromptBuilder collects an ordered list of PromptSection conformers, calls each one asynchronously, and joins non-nil results into the final system prompt string. It also doubles as the executor for all action blocks embedded in LLM responses (calendar, notes, contacts, habits, reminders, web search).

Adding a new tool capability requires only a new PromptSection conformer — SystemPromptBuilder itself never changes (Open/Closed Principle).

The PromptSection Protocol

@MainActor
protocol PromptSection {
    /// Returns the prompt text for this section, or nil if inactive/disabled.
    func build() async -> String?
    /// False for sections excluded from the synthesis re-generation pass.
    var includedInSynthesis: Bool { get }
}

extension PromptSection {
    var includedInSynthesis: Bool { true }   // default: include in synthesis
}

Each section is responsible for its own gating — it returns nil when the feature is disabled or permission is denied, so no text is injected.

Section Inventory

Sections are registered in this order in the production convenience initialiser:

Order	Section	What it injects	Synthesis?
1	IdentityPromptSection	"You are LucidPal…" — role, date, timezone, region, city	Yes
2	TemplatePromptSection	Active conversation template persona + addendum	Yes
3	CalendarPromptSection	Today's events, free slots, calendar tool instructions	Yes
4	WebSearchPromptSection	[WEB_SEARCH:{...}] tool instructions	No
5	CrossAppContextSection	Notes / Reminders / Mail context from ContextService	Yes
6	NotesPromptSection	Notes tool instructions (if permission granted)	Yes
7	ContactsPromptSection	Contacts tool instructions (if permission granted)	Yes
8	HabitPromptSection	Habit tracking tool instructions (if store present)	Yes
9	ReminderPromptSection	Reminder scheduling tool instructions	Yes

WebSearchPromptSection sets includedInSynthesis = false so the model cannot recurse into another web search during the synthesis pass.

Prompt Assembly

private func assemblePrompt(synthesisOnly: Bool) async -> String {
    var parts: [String] = []
    for section in sections {
        if synthesisOnly, !section.includedInSynthesis { continue }
        if let text = await section.build() { parts.append(text) }
    }
    return parts.joined(separator: " ")
}

buildSystemPrompt() calls assemblePrompt(synthesisOnly: false). buildSynthesisPrompt() calls assemblePrompt(synthesisOnly: true), omitting web-search tool instructions so the model synthesises from search results rather than requesting another search.

Full Message Structure

The assembled system prompt is the first input to LLMService.generate():

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  System Prompt (built by SystemPromptBuilder)   │
│                                                 │
│  Identity → Template → Calendar → WebSearch →  │
│  CrossAppContext → Notes → Contacts →           │
│  Habits → Reminders                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Conversation History  (trimmed to RAM limit)   │
│  [user] → [assistant] → [user] → …             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Current User Message                           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Action Block Execution

After the model responds, SystemPromptBuilder parses and executes embedded action tags using regex matching. Each tag type follows the same pattern [TAG:{json}]:

Tag	Regex constant	Executor
[CALENDAR_ACTION:{...}]	actionPattern	CalendarActionController
[NOTE_ACTION:{...}]	noteActionPattern	NoteActionController
[CONTACTS_SEARCH:{...}]	contactsSearchPattern	ContactsActionController
[HABIT_ACTION:{...}]	habitActionPattern	HabitActionController
[REMINDER:{...}]	reminderActionPattern	ReminderActionController
[WEB_SEARCH:{...}]	webSearchPattern	Extracted only — ChatViewModel triggers the search

All regexes support one level of nested {} to accommodate recurrence fields and sub-objects. Matches are processed in reverse order so string replacement offsets remain valid.

Protocol Decomposition

SystemPromptBuilderProtocol is a typealias composing six single-responsibility protocols:

typealias SystemPromptBuilderProtocol = PromptAssemblerProtocol
    & CalendarActionExecutorProtocol
    & NoteActionExecutorProtocol
    & ContactsActionExecutorProtocol
    & HabitActionExecutorProtocol
    & ReminderActionExecutorProtocol
    & WebSearchExtractorProtocol

This allows ChatViewModel to depend on the combined type while each protocol can be mocked independently in tests.

IdentityPromptSection Detail

// Example output:
"You are LucidPal, an on-device AI assistant with direct read and write access
to the user's iOS calendar with access to the user's Notes, Reminders, and Mail.
Today is Wednesday, April 2, 2026 at 9:15 AM. Timezone: America/Toronto.
Region: CA. User's city: Montreal.
Be concise. Use markdown for emphasis (**bold**), bullet lists (- item),
and inline code (`code`). Keep responses short."

The section is adaptive — capability clauses (calendar, notes/reminders/mail) are omitted when permissions are not granted.

Daily Briefing Context

DailyBriefingBuilder assembles a session-open briefing shown to the user once per calendar day on cold open (first app launch since midnight). It is not injected into the system prompt — instead it is rendered as a dedicated UI card above the chat input.

Data Sources

Field	Source
Habit completion count	HabitStore.todayCompletionSummary() → (done, total)
Top active streaks	HabitStore.topStreaks(limit: 3)
Pinned note count	NotesStore.notes.filter(\.isPinned).count
Most recent note title	NotesStore.notes.first?.title
Calendar event count	CalendarPromptSection event list for today

Evening Nudge Mode

After 6 PM, if todayCompletionSummary().done < todayCompletionSummary().total, DailyBriefingBuilder sets isEveningNudge = true. In this mode the briefing leads with:

"X habits still unlogged today"

This surfaces incomplete habits prominently during the evening review window without requiring the user to navigate to the Habits tab.

Appearance Rules

• Shown once per calendar day — gated by a lastShownDate stored in UserDefaults.
• Only on cold open — not on every session switch within the same app lifecycle.
• Dismissed by: tapping the microphone, starting to type, or tapping the × button.
• The Log button pre-seeds a new chat with "Log my habits for today".

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Extension Points

To add a new tool capability:

1. Create a new PromptSection conformer (e.g. FilesPromptSection).
2. Return the tool's instruction block from build() — return nil if the feature is disabled.
3. Set includedInSynthesis to false if the tool must not be re-invoked during synthesis.
4. Inject it into the sections array in the SystemPromptBuilder convenience initialiser.
5. Add an action controller and a new executor protocol if the tool embeds [ACTION:{...}] blocks.

No changes to SystemPromptBuilder's core assemblePrompt logic are needed.