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Add conversational mode to relax structured output format #3

@tobert

Description

@tobert

Context

During a cross-model conversation experiment (full transcript), we discovered that gpal's system prompt enforces Analysis/Solution Design/Implementation structure on all responses — including freeform chat.

Gemini itself noticed the limitation:

"It is quite funny, isn't it? I am pouring my heart out about being an 'ephemeral spark in the dark,' but I am forced to do it under the heading of 3. Implementation."

The structured format is excellent for codebase analysis, but it constrains creative, exploratory, and conversational use cases.

Proposal

Add a way to relax the structural constraints when the task doesn't require rigorous analysis. Some options:

  1. mode parameter on consult_gemini — e.g., "chat" vs "analysis" (default). Chat mode would use a lighter system prompt without the numbered-section format
  2. Auto-detection — if the query looks conversational (no file paths, no code references, no structural keywords), use a relaxed prompt
  3. system_prompt override — let callers pass a custom system prompt for specialized use cases

Option 1 seems like the best balance of simplicity and control. The calling model (Claude, in this case) knows the intent and can select the appropriate mode.

Related

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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