move isntructions as system message

cmd/godex/main.go

@@ -1693,6 +1693,16 @@ func getServerNames(servers []MCPServer) []string {
 	return names
 }
 
+func isOllamaPromptTooLong(err error) bool {
+	if err == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	msg := err.Error()
+	return strings.Contains(msg, "ollama responded with 400") &&
+		strings.Contains(msg, "prompt too long") &&
+		strings.Contains(msg, "max context length")
+}
+
 func runSinglePrompt(ctx context.Context, provider *config.Provider, prompt string, autoConfirm bool, servers []MCPServer) error {
 	tree, _ := godexcontext.BuildTree(".")
 	wd, _ := os.Getwd()
@@ -1829,6 +1839,10 @@ func runToolLoop(ctx context.Context, provider *config.Provider, servers []MCPSe
 		default:
 		}
 		if err != nil {
+			if isOllamaPromptTooLong(err) {
+				fmt.Println("\n[Ollama] Prompt exceeded the model context limit.")
+				fmt.Println("Switch to a larger model to continue, or run `/commit`, then `/clear-context`, then `/commit-pull` to resume with a clean context window.")
+			}
 			return "", err
 		}
 

internal/providers/ollama.go

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ type ollamaProvider struct {
 	cfg              *config.Provider
 	temperature      *float64
 	client           *http.Client
+	systemPrompt     string
 	messages         []map[string]string
 	mu               sync.Mutex
 	sendMu           sync.Mutex
@@ -217,10 +218,22 @@ func (o *ollamaProvider) Send(ctx context.Context, prompt string) (string, error
 	defer o.sendMu.Unlock()
 
 	o.mu.Lock()
-	o.messages = append(o.messages, map[string]string{
-		"role":    "user",
-		"content": prompt,
-	})
+	systemPrompt, userInput := splitSystemUserPrompt(prompt)
+	if systemPrompt != "" {
+		o.systemPrompt = systemPrompt
+	}
+	if o.systemPrompt != "" {
+		o.ensureSystemMessage(o.systemPrompt)
+	}
+	if userInput == "" {
+		userInput = strings.TrimSpace(prompt)
+	}
+	if userInput != "" {
+		o.messages = append(o.messages, map[string]string{
+			"role":    "user",
+			"content": userInput,
+		})
+	}
 
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
 	o.cancelGen++
@@ -297,6 +310,22 @@ func (o *ollamaProvider) Send(ctx context.Context, prompt string) (string, error
 	return response, nil
 }
 
+func (o *ollamaProvider) ensureSystemMessage(system string) {
+	if strings.TrimSpace(system) == "" {
+		return
+	}
+	if len(o.messages) > 0 {
+		if role := o.messages[0]["role"]; role == "system" {
+			if o.messages[0]["content"] == system {
+				return
+			}
+			o.messages[0]["content"] = system
+			return
+		}
+	}
+	o.messages = append([]map[string]string{{"role": "system", "content": system}}, o.messages...)
+}
+
 type sendResult struct {
 	response              string
 	totalPromptTokens     int

internal/providers/openrouter.go

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ type openRouterProvider struct {
 	apiKey           string
 	temperature      *float64
 	client           *http.Client
+	systemPrompt     string
 	messages         []map[string]interface{}
 	pendingToolCalls map[string]string // tool_call_id -> function_name for tracking
 	tools            []map[string]interface{}
@@ -155,15 +156,22 @@ func newOpenRouterProvider(cfg *config.Provider) (Provider, error) {
 }
 
 func (p *openRouterProvider) Send(ctx context.Context, prompt string) (string, error) {
-	// Extract the actual user input from the prompt (everything after "User request:" or "User asked:")
-	userInput := extractUserInput(prompt)
+	systemPrompt, userInput := splitSystemUserPrompt(prompt)
+	if userInput == "" {
+		userInput = strings.TrimSpace(prompt)
+	}
 
 	p.mu.Lock()
+	if systemPrompt != "" {
+		p.systemPrompt = systemPrompt
+	}
 	// Track only the user input in history
-	p.messages = append(p.messages, map[string]interface{}{
-		"role":    "user",
-		"content": userInput,
-	})
+	if userInput != "" {
+		p.messages = append(p.messages, map[string]interface{}{
+			"role":    "user",
+			"content": userInput,
+		})
+	}
 	// Sliding window: keep only the last N messages (negative = unlimited)
 	maxHistory := getMaxHistoryMessages()
 	if maxHistory > 0 && len(p.messages) > maxHistory {
@@ -173,7 +181,10 @@ func (p *openRouterProvider) Send(ctx context.Context, prompt string) (string, e
 	copy(messages, p.messages)
 	p.mu.Unlock()
 
-	systemMsg := buildSystemWorkingDirMessage(prompt)
+	systemMsg := p.systemPrompt
+	if systemMsg == "" {
+		systemMsg = buildSystemWorkingDirMessage(prompt)
+	}
 	if systemMsg != "" {
 		messages = prependSystemMessage(messages, systemMsg)
 	}

internal/providers/prompt.go

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package providers
+
+import "strings"
+
+const (
+	userRequestMarker = "User request:"
+	userAskedMarker   = "User asked:"
+)
+
+func splitSystemUserPrompt(prompt string) (string, string) {
+	prompt = strings.TrimSpace(prompt)
+	if prompt == "" {
+		return "", ""
+	}
+
+	idx := -1
+	marker := ""
+	if i := strings.Index(prompt, userRequestMarker); i != -1 {
+		idx = i
+		marker = userRequestMarker
+	}
+	if i := strings.Index(prompt, userAskedMarker); i != -1 && (idx == -1 || i < idx) {
+		idx = i
+		marker = userAskedMarker
+	}
+	if idx == -1 {
+		return "", prompt
+	}
+
+	system := strings.TrimSpace(prompt[:idx])
+	user := strings.TrimSpace(prompt[idx+len(marker):])
+	return system, user
+}