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Prompt patterns

Two surfaces in Cobblr take a plain-language request: Cobb and the AI builder. A little care in how you phrase things gets a better result from both. Scan routing takes no prompt at all, but it is steered by how you name and shape your trackers, so that is here too.

Asking Cobb to do something​

Cobb reads your workspace before acting, so it does not need you to spell out ids. Name the thing and what you want.

  • "Add a part called M3x10 socket screw, quantity 200, in Bin 4."
  • "Set the reorder point on PLA black to 3."
  • "Mark the enclosure build done."
  • "What is low on stock right now?"

Vaguer requests still work, they just cost a round trip while Cobb asks which record you meant. If several records match "black filament", Cobb lists them and asks; naming the exact one skips that.

Open Cobb from a screen's Ask Cobb button and you can point at what you are looking at without naming it, since Cobb reads the page you are on. "Put these away" or "what is low here" resolve against that screen.

When you want Cobb to hold off on writing, say so, or use the Changes chip in the chat header. Set it to Changes: ask (the default) so nothing runs without a confirm, Changes: auto to have edits apply as you go, or Changes: off to stop it writing at all. Every change stays undoable.

Describing a bundle to the builder​

The builder does best when your description names three things: what you track, the fields you care about, and any automation. Put them in one description rather than a title.

Thin, and the builder has to guess:

Track my paint.

Fuller, and it has enough to shape real fields and a wire:

Track my spray paint cans: brand, color, finish (matte, satin, gloss), and how many cans are left. When a color drops to one can, add it to my shopping list.

Your wording also sets the scope. For a tweak, the Build page derives which of your trackers the change touches from the words and field names you use, so naming the thing ("parts", "yarn") lands it in the right place; a Change link shows the full picker if it guessed wrong.

You do not have to get it right the first time. Apply what it builds, then adjust the fields directly, or describe a new tracker and keep the parts that fit.

Shaping trackers so scans route​

Scan routing reads a tracker's own identity, so the tracker's design is what steers it, with or without AI connected:

  • Name an instance for the thing it holds. A "Yarn" tracker pulls in a scanned skein; a "Car Parts" tracker pulls in a brake pad. A generic name routes worse.
  • Give fields real choice lists. A weight field with the choices Lace, Worsted, Bulky lets a capture that says "worsted" fill it. The choices are the vocabulary the matcher extracts against.
  • Add scan keywords for ambiguous cases. When two trackers could plausibly hold an item, a keyword on the right one ("skein", "ball-band") sharpens the match.

Correcting a scan that routed wrong also teaches the workspace, so the next similar item lands better.