 DownloadArtisan Commands
<a name="introduction"></a>
Introduction
Prompt Deck registers five Artisan commands for managing your prompts from the command line. All commands are available when running in the console.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| make:prompt | Create a new prompt structure with versioned role files. |
| prompt:list | List all available prompts and their versions. |
| prompt:activate | Activate a specific version of a prompt. |
| prompt:diff | Show differences between two prompt versions. |
| prompt:test | Test a prompt with sample input and see the rendered result. |
<a name="make-prompt"></a>
make:prompt
Create a new prompt structure for your AI agent.
make:prompt {name?} {--from=} {--desc=} {--u|user} {--role=*} {--i|interactive} {--f|force}
Arguments
| Argument | Required | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| name | No | The name of the prompt. Omit for interactive mode. Automatically normalised to kebab-case. |
Options
| Option | Shorthand | Description |
|---|---|---|
| --from= | | Path to a custom stub file to use as the user prompt template. |
| --desc= | | A short description stored in metadata.json. |
| --user | -u | Also create a user prompt file alongside the default system prompt. |
| --role=* | | Additional roles to scaffold. Repeatable (e.g. --role=assistant --role=developer). |
| --interactive | -i | Interactively choose which additional roles to create. |
| --force | -f | Overwrite an existing prompt's latest version without confirmation. |
Examples
# Minimal prompt (system only)
php artisan make:prompt order-summary
# With system + user files
php artisan make:prompt order-summary --user
# With system + multiple custom roles
php artisan make:prompt order-summary --role=assistant --role=developer
# With description
php artisan make:prompt order-summary --desc="Summarises customer orders"
# Fully interactive
php artisan make:prompt
# Force-overwrite in CI
php artisan make:prompt order-summary --force
# Custom user prompt template
php artisan make:prompt order-summary --user --from=stubs/my-template.md
Output
Version 1 of the [order-summary] prompt has been created successfully with the following roles: system, user.
Behaviour with Existing Prompts
When run against a prompt that already exists, the command presents a choice:
? Prompt [order-summary] already exists at version 2.
What would you like to do?
[version] Create a new version (v3)
[overwrite] Overwrite version 2
[cancel] Cancel
With --force, the latest version is overwritten without prompting.
See Creating Prompts for comprehensive documentation.
<a name="prompt-list"></a>
prompt:list
List all available prompts and their versions.
prompt:list {--all : Show all versions for each prompt}
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| --all | Show all versions for each prompt, not just the active one. |
Examples
List active versions only:
php artisan prompt:list
Output:
+---------------+----------------+--------+----------------------------+
| Prompt | Active Version | Active | Description |
+---------------+----------------+--------+----------------------------+
| order-summary | v2 | ? | Summarises customer orders |
| code-reviewer | v1 | ? | Reviews code quality |
+---------------+----------------+--------+----------------------------+
List all versions:
php artisan prompt:list --all
Output:
+---------------+----------------+--------+----------------------------+
| Prompt | Active Version | Active | Description |
+---------------+----------------+--------+----------------------------+
| order-summary | v1 | | Initial version |
| order-summary | v2 | ? | Improved tone |
| code-reviewer | v1 | ? | Reviews code quality |
+---------------+----------------+--------+----------------------------+
Notes
-
If the prompts directory does not exist, a warning is displayed.
-
If no prompts are found, an informational message is shown.
-
Descriptions come from each version's `metadata.json`.
<a name="prompt-activate"></a>
prompt:activate
Activate a specific version of a prompt.
prompt:activate {name : The prompt name} {version : The version number to activate}
Arguments
| Argument | Required | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| name | Yes | The prompt name (e.g. order-summary). |
| version | Yes | The version number to activate (e.g. 2). |
Examples
php artisan prompt:activate order-summary 2
Output:
Version 2 of prompt [order-summary] activated.
How It Works
-
With database tracking enabled: Updates the `prompt_versions` table ? sets `is_active = false` on all versions for that prompt, then `is_active = true` on the specified version.
-
Without tracking: Writes the `active_version` key to the prompt's root `metadata.json` file.
Error Handling
If the prompt or version does not exist, an error message is displayed:
Version 5 for prompt [order-summary] does not exist.
<a name="prompt-diff"></a>
prompt:diff
Show differences between two prompt versions using unified diff output.
prompt:diff {name : The prompt name} {--v1= : First version number} {--v2= : Second version number} {--type= : system, user, or all (default)}
Arguments
| Argument | Required | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| name | Yes | The prompt name (e.g. order-summary). |
Options
| Option | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| --v1= | Yes | The first version number to compare. |
| --v2= | Yes | The second version number to compare. |
| --type= | No | Which role files to compare: system, user, or all (default). |
Examples
Compare all role files between v1 and v2:
php artisan prompt:diff order-summary --v1=1 --v2=2
Output:
--- System Prompt ---
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
You are an AI assistant specialized in...
Follow these guidelines:
-- Use {{ $tone }} tone
-+ Use a professional and {{ $tone }} tone
+- Be helpful and concise
--- User Prompt ---
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
...
Compare only system prompts:
php artisan prompt:diff order-summary --v1=1 --v2=2 --type=system
Compare only user prompts:
php artisan prompt:diff order-summary --v1=1 --v2=2 --type=user
Notes
-
Both `--v1` and `--v2` are required. The command fails with an error if either is missing.
-
If a role file exists in one version but not the other, the diff shows the full content as added or removed.
-
If a role file doesn't exist in either version, it is silently skipped.
-
Uses `sebastian/diff` for unified diff output.
<a name="prompt-test"></a>
prompt:test
Test a prompt with sample input and see the rendered result.
prompt:test {name : The prompt name} {--ver= : Specific version (defaults to active)} {--input= : The input to test} {--variables= : JSON string of variables}
Arguments
| Argument | Required | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| name | Yes | The prompt name to test (e.g. order-summary). |
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| --ver= | Specific version to test. Defaults to the active version. |
| --input= | Custom input text. Defaults to "Sample user input". |
| --variables= | JSON string of variables for interpolation. Defaults to {}. |
Examples
Test the active version with defaults:
php artisan prompt:test order-summary
Output:
Testing prompt [order-summary] version 2
Expected variables: tone, input
--- SYSTEM PROMPT ---
You are an AI assistant specialized in...
Follow these guidelines:
- Be helpful
- Use {{ $tone }} tone
--- USER PROMPT ---
Summarise the following order: Sample user input
Test a specific version with variables:
php artisan prompt:test order-summary --ver=1 --variables='{"tone":"friendly","input":"Order #1234"}'
Output:
Testing prompt [order-summary] version 1
Expected variables: tone, input
--- SYSTEM PROMPT ---
You are an AI assistant specialized in...
Follow these guidelines:
- Be helpful
- Use friendly tone
--- USER PROMPT ---
Summarise the following order: Order #1234
Test with custom input:
php artisan prompt:test order-summary --input="Order #5678 with 3 items"
Notes
-
The `--variables` option expects valid JSON. Invalid JSON produces an error: `Invalid JSON for --variables`.
-
Expected variables (from `metadata.json`) are displayed as a hint, if available.
-
Both the rendered system and user prompts are displayed.
-
Unmatched variables remain as placeholders in the output, making it easy to spot missing values.
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