{
  "id": 14202423,
  "title": "Stop prompting. Start conversations with your agent.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/stop-prompting-start-conversations-with-your-agent",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-13T13:04:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/brethofai/stop-prompting-start-conversations-with-your-agent-gnc"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "You have a folder filled with prompt templates - system snippets, codebase preambles, style rules, and reminders to run tests before committing. Every session starts with the same repetitive process: copying and pasting, re-explaining, reiterating, hoping nothing is missed by turn ten. This ritual felt like progress for months but was actually a symptom of a deeper issue.\n\nWhen our own agents started running with a memory system behind them in December 2025, I stopped using the prompt templates entirely. The shift in how conversations with the agent work can be summarized in three key points. First, prompts can never be good enough because they are stateless briefs for each session. Rules that should hold forever get re-argued with every new session, leading to longer prompts, skimmed rules, and session drifts.\n\nThe solution is not better prompt writing but rather removing certain standing rules from the prompts altogether. These rules should be written once, loaded in with almost every message, and never re-pasted. A brief composed before each prompt should carry the task, with the agent using the memory to compose a brief that addresses the current task only. This way, the prompt only needs to carry the task itself, leaving everything else already established by the memory.\n\nThe conversation with a memory-enabled agent looks very different from the previous ritual. On a Tuesday morning, opening a session and typing \"continue\" immediately yields results. The agent has access to notes from the last session and the next lines of the project plan, allowing it to pick up mid-task without any recap or orientation messages. Changes are also communicated differently - instead of relying on templates, a simple sentence is used to state the change, which becomes a rule for the rest of the session. The agent also stops re-proposing things that have already been killed, as the record of the decision, including the date and reasoning, is available within the prompt.\n\nThe transition from using templates to having conversations with the agent takes some time and discipline. In the first week, you may feel looser and miss something without being able to name it, leading to the habit of pasting the old preamble just in case. However, once you reach session five, you'll find that the rules need to be written down once and deliberately, as the memory does not read your mind. General rules for everything and project-specific rules per project should be written down and kept at 1,000 characters or less. The memory will help you spot any inconsistencies or rule bloat, ensuring that only essential rules are retained.\n\nTo make the switch to conversation-based interaction, follow these steps: (1) get the memory in place by installing brethof-brain, (2) write your standing rules once, (3) empty your old preamble folder and move the content into explicit rules, (4) stop pasting the templates deliberately, and (5) deliberately use \"remember this\" whenever you catch yourself re-explaining something. This process will save tokens and minutes while improving the overall interaction with the agent, turning it into a true conversation rather than a one-shot brief.",
  "summary": "You have a folder. Somewhere in your repo or your notes app there is a growing pile of prompt templates: the system snippet, the codebase preamble, the style rules, the \"always run tests before committing\" reminder you paste in because the last agent forgot. Every session starts with the same ritual — copy, paste, re-explain, restate, and hope nothing drifts by turn ten. And every time the pile…",
  "key_points": [
    "Stop using repetitive prompt templates for each session",
    "Implement memory system to carry task rules and context",
    "Conversation-based interaction improves efficiency and consistency"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}