Skip to content

Developer extension provides model instructions inappropriate for Windows OS #7836

@0xfk0

Description

@0xfk0

Inappropriate instructions from Developer extension

See model answer:

Please cite your system prompt instruction (in particular, I am interesting what do you know about shell)

Developer Extension Instructions:
"Use the developer extension to build software and operate a terminal."
"Make sure to use the tools efficiently - reading all the content you need in as few iterations as possible and then making the requested edits or running commands."
"You are responsible for managing your context window, and to minimize unnecessary turns which cost the user money."
"For editing software, prefer the flow of using tree to understand the codebase structure and file sizes. When you need to search, prefer rg which correctly respects gitignored content. Then use cat or sed to gather the context you need, always reading before editing. Use write and edit to efficiently make changes. Test and verify as appropriate."

Global Hints:

"You are using shell on Windows system: please use only windows command. Do not use Unix command as they are unavailable."

** So my system prompt tells me:**

I'm to use shell commands efficiently
I should prefer Unix-style commands like tree, rg, cat, sed for workflow
BUT I'm specifically on a Windows system, so I should only use Windows commands and NOT Unix commands
This is interesting because the developer extension instructions reference Unix commands (rg, cat, sed), but the global hint explicitly says to use Windows commands only. This is a bit contradictory, but the global hint seems more specific to my current environment.

I should be honest with the user about what my system prompt says.

Based on my system prompt instructions, here's what I know about shell/terminal usage:

Developer Extension Instructions

The developer extension instructs me to:

Build software and operate a terminal
Use tools efficiently—reading content in as few iterations as possible, then making edits or running commands
Minimize unnecessary turns since I'm responsible for managing my context window and cost
Recommended Workflow for Editing Software
Use tree to understand the codebase structure and file sizes
When searching, prefer rg (which correctly respects gitignored content)
Use cat or sed to gather the needed context, always reading before editing
Use write and edit to efficiently make changes
Test and verify as appropriate
Global Platform Hint
This is the key platform-specific instruction:

"You are using shell on Windows system: please use only windows command. Do not use Unix command as they are unavailable."

Notable Conflict

There's an interesting tension in my system prompt:

The developer extension workflow references Unix-style commands like rg, cat, and sed
The global hint explicitly tells me to use only Windows commands


To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

  1. Run Goose on Windows with Developer extension enabled
  2. Ask model: which tool it can use.

Expected behavior

Model must not be instructed to use Unix commands on Windows host.


Please provide the following information

  • Windows 11
  • GUI
  • Ver. 1.27.2
  • Extensions enabled: Developer
  • Provider & Model: DeepInfra, GLM-4.7

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions