Edit a prompt as code

See a dynamic prompt's blocks written out as text, copy them, and edit them directly in the Code view.

The Code view shows a dynamic prompt’s blocks written out as text instead of as cards. You can read it, copy it, or edit it to change the prompt. This is an advanced feature: most people never need it, and the Visual view does the same things with drag and drop.

The Code view is useful when you want to:

• Copy a whole prompt as text, to keep it or give it to an AI assistant to work on.
• Make many changes at once, such as several new blocks.
• Turn one of a prompt’s embedded blocks into a library block.

When you save a reply from Chat as a prompt, Build opens in the Code view with the reply’s blocks ready to check and save (Run prompts in Chat).

Open the Code view

1. Open the prompt on the Build screen (Build a prompt).
2. Above the canvas, click Code (next to Visual).

The Code view shows the prompt’s blocks, including any embedded blocks you haven’t saved yet. It’s read-only until you click Edit. Click Copy to put all of it on the clipboard.

Visual and Code are two views of the same prompt. Switching between them keeps your blocks.

Edit the code

1. In the Code view, click Edit.
2. Change the text in the box.
3. Click Format to tidy the layout and check the code. If something is wrong, a red message appears under Format (Error messages).
4. Save the prompt with Save as Dynamic, Update Prompt or Apply (or Ctrl+S). For a new prompt, Save as Static also works: it saves the blocks as fixed text.

While you’re editing, the code is what gets saved, not the cards. The cards don’t follow your code changes until you save.

If you’ve changed the code and click Visual before saving, PromptMason asks Discard your changes? Click Keep Editing to go back, or Discard Changes to drop the code changes.

The bar that says Warning: this is an advanced feature. Click to learn more. opens a short explanation. Click Got it to close it.

The format

The code is in a format called blocks/v1. It’s written in JSON, a common way to write data as text: names and values in double quotes, lists in square brackets [ ], and each item in curly brackets { }, with commas between items.

The whole thing has two parts:

• "promptmasonFormat": "blocks/v1", which must be there exactly as shown.
• "blocks", the list of blocks in the prompt, in order.

Each block can have these fields:

true and false are written without quotes.

Three kinds of block entry

A block you already have has an id. Only includeName and includeType change anything; you can write it as short as { "id": "…", "includeType": true }. Changing its name, type, text or tags here does nothing for a library block: edit it on the Blocks screen instead (Create and edit blocks). For one of this prompt’s own embedded blocks, your changes to those fields are saved.

A new embedded block has no id, and needs a name, a type and content. It belongs to this prompt only.

A new library block is the same, plus "saveToBlocksLibrary": true. When you save, it’s added to the Blocks screen, and on the Free plan it counts toward your 25 blocks.

You can change an embedded block’s saveToBlocksLibrary from false to true to make it a library block. You can’t change a library block’s to false: that shows an error, because other prompts may use it. To get an embedded copy of a library block, use Convert to embedded block.

An example

This prompt uses one block you already have, with its type as a header, and adds one new embedded block:

{
  "promptmasonFormat": "blocks/v1",
  "blocks": [
    {
      "id": "6c1e9a52-0b7d-4f3e-9a41-2d8f5c7b1e03",
      "includeType": true
    },
    {
      "name": "Reply length",
      "type": "Constraints",
      "content": "Keep the reply under {{word limit}} words.",
      "includeType": true
    }
  ]
}

The ID here is made up. Copy real IDs from the Code view rather than typing them. After you click Format, the first block shows its name, type and text too.

PromptMason checks that an ID belongs to a block you have, but not that it’s the block you meant. Check the result on the canvas or in the preview before you save over a prompt that matters.

Error messages

A problem in the code shows in red under Format when you click it, or next to the prompt’s name when you save. Nothing is saved until it’s fixed.

Format checks how the code is written. The messages about IDs and libraries (the last four in the table) show only when you save, next to the prompt’s name.

Blocks are counted from 0: blocks[0] is the first block, blocks[1] the second, and so on.

If the Free plan limit window opens when you save, the save won’t fit the Free plan: a new prompt counts toward your 15 prompts, and each new library block, or embedded block you changed to "saveToBlocksLibrary": true, counts toward your 25 blocks. Remove "saveToBlocksLibrary": true to keep new blocks embedded, or see Plans and limits.

If your library is paused, Copy and Edit open the Your library is paused window (When your library is paused).