PR Templates and Custom Prompts

DevDaily supports both GitHub PR templates and custom AI prompt files to generate consistent, team-specific pull request descriptions.

Overview

DevDaily uses two mechanisms to customize PR descriptions:

PR Templates: GitHub-style markdown templates with sections and checklists
Prompt Files: Custom guidelines that instruct the AI how to write descriptions

These work together: the template provides structure, and the prompt file guides the AI’s tone and content.

PR Template Detection

DevDaily automatically searches for PR templates in your repository:

.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
.github/pull_request_template.md
.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/default.md
docs/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
pull_request_template.md

The first template found is used to structure the PR description.

Example Template

# Pull Request Title

## What Changed

<!-- Describe the changes in this PR -->

## Why

<!-- Business or technical reason for these changes -->

## Type of Change

- [ ] 🐛 Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
- [ ] ✨ New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
- [ ] 💥 Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected)
- [ ] 📝 Documentation update
- [ ] 🔧 Configuration change

## Ticket

**Ticket No:** 
**Ticket link:** 

## Impact

<!-- What parts of the system does this affect? -->

## How to Test

1. <!-- Testing step 1 -->
2. <!-- Testing step 2 -->

## Breaking Changes

<!-- List any breaking changes or "None" -->

## Screenshots

<!-- Add screenshots if applicable, or delete this section -->

## Checklist

- [ ] My code follows the project's style guidelines
- [ ] I have performed a self-review of my code
- [ ] I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas
- [ ] I have made corresponding changes to the documentation
- [ ] My changes generate no new warnings
- [ ] I have added tests that prove my fix/feature works
- [ ] New and existing unit tests pass locally with my changes

Template Sections

DevDaily parses templates into sections based on ## headings and automatically fills them:

description

section

Matches: Description, What Changed, What, SummaryFilled with: AI-generated summary of changes from commits and diff

type_of_change

section

Matches: Type of Change, Type, Change TypeFilled with: Detected change type with appropriate checklist item marked

ticket

section

Matches: Ticket, Jira Ticket, Issue, Related IssuesFilled with: Ticket ID(s) and links from branch name and commits

impact

section

Matches: Impact, Affected Areas, ScopeFilled with: Analysis of which system components are affected

testing

section

Matches: How to Test, Testing, Test PlanFilled with: Step-by-step testing instructions

breaking_changes

section

Matches: Breaking Changes, Breaking, MigrationFilled with: List of breaking changes or “No breaking changes.”

screenshots

section

Matches: Screenshots, Images, Visual ChangesFilled with: Placeholder text (screenshots must be added manually)

checklist

section

Matches: Checklist, Verification, Review ChecklistFilled with: Preserved as-is from template

Custom PR Prompt Files

Prompt files instruct the AI how to write PR descriptions, ensuring consistency with your team’s style.

Creating a Prompt File

Create .devdaily-pr-prompt.md in your repository root:

.devdaily-pr-prompt.md

# PR Description Guidelines

These guidelines tell DevDaily AI how to generate PR descriptions for your team.

## Tone & Style

- Write in present tense ("Add feature" not "Added feature")
- Be concise — aim for clarity over verbosity
- Use bullet points for lists of changes
- Avoid jargon unless well-known in the team
- No emojis in description body (section headers are fine)

## Description Format

- Start with a one-sentence summary of what the PR does
- Follow with bullet points of specific changes
- Group related changes together
- Mention any architectural decisions or trade-offs

## Ticket References

- Always include ticket IDs (e.g., PROJ-123) when available
- Link to the ticket URL
- Explain how changes relate to acceptance criteria

## Testing Instructions

- Provide step-by-step instructions for reviewers
- Include any required environment setup
- Mention edge cases to verify
- For bug fixes: expected vs actual behavior

## Breaking Changes

- Clearly call out any breaking changes
- Explain migration steps if applicable
- Tag breaking changes with ⚠️

## What NOT to Include

- Don't list every file changed (that's in the diff)
- Don't repeat commit messages verbatim
- Don't include implementation details obvious from code
- Don't include TODOs — create follow-up tickets instead

Search Order

DevDaily searches for prompt files in this order:

Path specified in config (pr.promptFile)
.devdaily-pr-prompt.md (repo root)
.github/devdaily-pr-prompt.md
.github/PR_DESCRIPTION_PROMPT.md
docs/devdaily-pr-prompt.md

Configuration

.devdaily.json

{
  "pr": {
    "promptFile": ".github/devdaily-pr-prompt.md",
    "includeDiff": true,
    "maxDiffLines": 200
  }
}

pr.promptFile

string

Path to custom prompt file (relative to repo root or absolute)

pr.includeDiff

boolean

default:"true"

Include diff summary in AI prompt for richer context

pr.maxDiffLines

number

default:"200"

Maximum diff lines to include in prompt (prevents token overflow)

PR Configuration Options

All PR-related settings in .devdaily.json:

.devdaily.json

{
  "pr": {
    "defaultBase": "main",
    "template": null,
    "promptFile": ".devdaily-pr-prompt.md",
    "autoLabels": true,
    "defaultLabels": ["enhancement"],
    "defaultReviewers": ["alice", "bob"],
    "defaultAssignees": ["@me"],
    "titleFormat": "conventional",
    "includeTicketInTitle": true,
    "includeDiff": true,
    "maxDiffLines": 200
  }
}

pr.defaultBase

string

default:"main"

Default base branch for PRs

pr.template

string

Path to custom PR template (overrides auto-detection)

pr.autoLabels

boolean

default:"true"

Automatically suggest labels based on changes

pr.defaultLabels

string[]

default:"[]"

Labels to apply to all PRs

pr.defaultReviewers

string[]

default:"[]"

Default reviewers (GitHub usernames)

pr.defaultAssignees

string[]

default:"[]"

Default assignees (@me = you, or GitHub usernames)

pr.titleFormat

enum

default:"conventional"

PR title format:

conventional: feat: Add OAuth (Conventional Commits)
ticket-first: PROJ-123: Add OAuth
plain: Add OAuth

pr.includeTicketInTitle

boolean

default:"true"

Include ticket ID in PR title (when detected)

How Templates Are Filled

When you run devdaily pr, here’s what happens:

Detect template

Search for PR template in standard locations

Load prompt file

Load custom prompt guidelines (if exists)

Analyze changes

Get commits since base branch
Generate diff summary
Extract ticket IDs from branch/commits
Fetch ticket metadata (if PM tool configured)

Generate with AI

Send context + prompt to GitHub Copilot CLI:

Commits and file changes
Diff summary (up to maxDiffLines)
Ticket data
Template structure
Custom guidelines from prompt file

Fill template

Map AI output to template sections:

Description → What Changed
Type detection → Type of Change checkboxes
Tickets → Ticket section with links
Testing steps → How to Test

Present to user

Show filled template in interactive menu:

Edit description
Create PR
Copy to clipboard

Type Detection

DevDaily automatically detects PR type from:

Branch name prefix:
- feature/, feat/ → Feature
- fix/, bugfix/ → Bug fix
- hotfix/ → Hotfix
- docs/ → Documentation
- refactor/ → Refactoring
- test/ → Testing
- chore/ → Maintenance
Conventional commit types:
- feat: → Feature
- fix: → Bug fix
- docs: → Documentation
- refactor: → Refactoring
- test: → Testing
- chore: → Maintenance
File changes:
- Only .md files → Documentation
- Only test files → Testing
- Config files → Configuration

The detected type determines which checkbox is marked in “Type of Change” sections.

Example: Complete Workflow

1. Create Files

## What Changed

## Type of Change

- [ ] 🐛 Bug fix
- [ ] ✨ Feature
- [ ] 📝 Docs

## Ticket

**Ticket No:** 
**Ticket link:** 

## Testing

## Checklist

- [ ] Tests pass
- [ ] Docs updated

2. Create Branch

git checkout -b feature/PROJ-123-oauth

3. Make Changes

# Implement OAuth
git add src/auth/oauth.ts
git commit -m "feat(auth): Add OAuth provider"

git add src/auth/google.ts
git commit -m "feat(auth): Add Google OAuth integration"

git add tests/auth.test.ts
git commit -m "test(auth): Add OAuth tests"

4. Generate PR

devdaily pr

5. Output

Title:

feat(auth): PROJ-123 Add OAuth provider

Body:

## What Changed

Adds OAuth2 authentication support with Google as the first provider. This allows users to sign in using their Google accounts instead of email/password.

Changes:
- Implement OAuth2 base provider class
- Add Google OAuth integration
- Update user model to support OAuth accounts
- Add comprehensive test coverage

## Type of Change

- [ ] 🐛 Bug fix
- [x] ✨ Feature
- [ ] 📝 Docs

## Ticket

**Ticket No:** PROJ-123
**Ticket link:** https://yourcompany.atlassian.net/browse/PROJ-123

## Testing

1. Set up Google OAuth credentials in `.env`:

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

2. Start the dev server: `npm run dev`
3. Navigate to `/login`
4. Click "Sign in with Google"
5. Verify redirect to Google consent screen
6. After approval, verify redirect back to app
7. Verify user is logged in with Google account details

## Checklist

- [x] Tests pass
- [x] Docs updated

6. Create PR

From the interactive menu:

Select “Create PR on GitHub”
DevDaily creates PR with:
- Generated title and body
- Label: enhancement (auto-detected)
- Reviewer: alice (from config)
- Assignee: @me

Generating Sample Files

DevDaily can generate starter templates:

# Generate sample PR template
devdaily init --pr-template
# Creates .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

# Generate sample prompt file
devdaily init --pr-prompt
# Creates .devdaily-pr-prompt.md

Best Practices

Start with a simple template

Don’t over-engineer. Start with:

Description
Testing
Checklist

Add sections as needs evolve.

Write clear prompt guidelines

Be specific about:

Tone (formal vs casual)
Length (concise vs detailed)
Required elements (tickets, testing, etc.)
Forbidden elements (emojis, personal opinions)

Use conventional commit types

Consistent commit types (feat:, fix:, etc.) help DevDaily:

Detect PR type accurately
Generate better titles
Suggest appropriate labels

Review and refine

After generating several PRs:

Review quality of descriptions
Update prompt file based on patterns
Adjust template sections to match team needs

Troubleshooting

Template Not Detected

Check file exists:

ls -la .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

Verify file is readable:
```
cat .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
```

Manually specify:

{ "pr": { "template": ".github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md" } }

Prompt File Not Applied

Check file location:
```
ls -la .devdaily-pr-prompt.md
```

Test with debug:

devdaily pr --debug
# Shows: "Loaded PR prompt from: ..."

Verify syntax:

# Must use ## headings for sections
grep "^##" .devdaily-pr-prompt.md

Sections Not Filled Correctly

Check section names: Must match expected patterns (case-insensitive)

## Description  ✅
## What Changed ✅
## Changes      ❌ (not recognized)

Verify markdown format: Sections must use ## (h2)

## Testing     ✅
### Testing    ❌ (h3, not h2)
# Testing      ❌ (h1, not h2)

Check for typos:

## Descripion  ❌ (typo)
## Description ✅

Configuration Overview

Learn about all configuration options

Project Management

Configure ticket integration for PRs

PR Command

Learn how to create PRs with DevDaily

Get Started

Core Features

Configuration

Advanced

Troubleshooting

PR Templates and Custom Prompts

Overview

PR Template Detection

Example Template

Template Sections

Custom PR Prompt Files

Creating a Prompt File

Search Order

Configuration

PR Configuration Options

How Templates Are Filled

Type Detection

Example: Complete Workflow

1. Create Files

2. Create Branch

3. Make Changes

4. Generate PR

5. Output

6. Create PR

Generating Sample Files

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Template Not Detected

Prompt File Not Applied

Sections Not Filled Correctly

Configuration Overview

Project Management

PR Command

Get Started

Core Features

Configuration

Advanced

Troubleshooting

​Overview

​PR Template Detection

​Example Template

​Template Sections

​Custom PR Prompt Files

​Creating a Prompt File

​Search Order

​Configuration

​PR Configuration Options

​How Templates Are Filled

​Type Detection

​Example: Complete Workflow

​1. Create Files

​2. Create Branch

​3. Make Changes

​4. Generate PR

​5. Output

​6. Create PR

​Generating Sample Files

​Best Practices

​Troubleshooting

​Template Not Detected

​Prompt File Not Applied

​Sections Not Filled Correctly

​Related Configuration

Configuration Overview

Project Management

PR Command

Overview

PR Template Detection

Example Template

Template Sections

Custom PR Prompt Files

Creating a Prompt File

Search Order

Configuration

PR Configuration Options

How Templates Are Filled

Type Detection

Example: Complete Workflow

1. Create Files

2. Create Branch

3. Make Changes

4. Generate PR

5. Output

6. Create PR

Generating Sample Files

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Template Not Detected

Prompt File Not Applied

Sections Not Filled Correctly

Related Configuration