Quickly paste reusable prompts into AI Chat from a status bar button or command palette. Works with VS Code (Copilot Chat) and Cursor.
Features
Status Bar Button — Click the $(comment-discussion) Prompts item in the status bar to see all your saved prompts and paste one into AI Chat with a single click.
Quick Pick List — Browse, search, and run prompts from a searchable quick pick menu.
CRUD Operations — Add, edit, and delete prompts directly from the UI.
Auto-Submit Toggle — Choose whether prompts are pre-filled for review or submitted automatically (handyPrompts.autoSubmit).
Workspace & Global Scope — Prompts are saved per-workspace when possible, falling back to global settings.
Editor-Aware — Automatically detects VS Code or Cursor and adapts labels and commands accordingly. Falls back to clipboard if the chat command is unavailable.
Usage
Click the Prompts button in the status bar (bottom-right).
Hover to see all configured prompts — click any to paste it into AI Chat.
Or open the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and run Handy Prompts.
Configuration
Setting
Type
Default
Description
handyPrompts.prompts
array
3 defaults
List of { name, prompt } objects
handyPrompts.autoSubmit
boolean
false
Auto-submit after pasting (vs. pre-fill for review)
Example settings.json
{
"handyPrompts.prompts": [
{
"name": "Explain Code",
"prompt": "Explain the selected code in detail. What does it do, and how does it work?"
},
{
"name": "Write Tests",
"prompt": "Write comprehensive unit tests for the selected code. Cover edge cases and common scenarios."
}
],
"handyPrompts.autoSubmit": false
}
Commands
Command
Description
Handy Prompts
Show the prompt list quick pick
Handy Prompts: Add Prompt
Add a new reusable prompt
Handy Prompts: Edit Prompt
Edit an existing prompt
Handy Prompts: Delete Prompt
Delete a prompt
Compatibility
Editor
Status
VS Code (with Copilot Chat)
Fully supported
Cursor
Fully supported
Feedback & Support
Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue on GitHub.
