Updates • What and Why • Philosophy • Installation • Usage • REST API • Examples • Just Use the Patterns • Custom Patterns • Helper Apps • Meta

What and why

Since the start of modern AI in late 2022 we've seen an extraordinary number of AI applications for accomplishing tasks. There are thousands of websites, chat-bots, mobile apps, and other interfaces for using all the different AI out there.

It's all really exciting and powerful, but it's not easy to integrate this functionality into our lives.

Fabric was created to address this by creating and organizing the fundamental units of AI—the prompts themselves!

Fabric organizes prompts by real-world task, allowing people to create, collect, and organize their most important AI solutions in a single place for use in their favorite tools. And if you're command-line focused, you can use Fabric itself as the interface!

Updates

For a deep dive into Fabric and its internals, read the documentation in the docs folder. There is also the extremely useful and regularly updated DeepWiki for Fabric.

Click to view recent updates

Dear Users,

We've been doing so many exciting things here at Fabric, I wanted to give a quick summary here to give you a sense of our development velocity!

Below are the new features and capabilities we've added (newest first):

Recent Major Features

• v1.4.447 (April 16, 2026) — Claude Opus 4.7: Updates the Anthropic SDK to v1.37.0 and adds the new Claude Opus 4.7 to the available models, including 1M-token context window support.
• v1.4.437 (March 16, 2026) — OpenAI Codex PLugin: Fabric now supports using OpenAI Codex (with your OpenAI subscription) as a backend!
• v1.4.417 (Feb 21, 2026) — Azure AI Gateway Plugin: Added Azure AI Gateway plugin supporting multiple backends (AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Google Vertex AI) through a unified Azure APIM Gateway with shared subscription key authentication.
• v1.4.416 (Feb 21, 2026) — Azure Entra ID Authentication: Added Azure Entra ID authentication plugin with shared Azure utilities, Entra ID/MSAL support, and extracted common Azure logic into a reusable azurecommon package.
• v1.4.380 (Jan 15, 2026) — Microsoft 365 Copilot Integration: Added support for corporate Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling enterprise users to leverage AI grounded in their organization's Microsoft 365 data (emails, documents, meetings.
• v1.4.378 (Jan 14, 2026) — Digital Ocean GenAI Support: Added support for Digital Ocean GenAI, along with a guide for how to use it.
• v1.4.356 (Dec 22, 2025) — Complete Internationalization: Full i18n support for setup prompts across all 10 languages with intelligent environment variable handling—making Fabric truly accessible worldwide while maintaining configuration consistency.
• v1.4.350 (Dec 18, 2025) — Interactive API Documentation: Adds Swagger/OpenAPI UI at /swagger/index.html with comprehensive REST API documentation, enhanced developer guides, and improved endpoint discoverability for easier integration.
• v1.4.338 (Dec 4, 2025) — Add Abacus vendor support for Chat-LLM models (see RouteLLM APIs).
• v1.4.337 (Dec 4, 2025) — Add "Z AI" vendor support. See the Z AI overview page for more details.
• v1.4.334 (Nov 26, 2025) — Claude Opus 4.5: Updates the Anthropic SDK to the latest and adds the new Claude Opus 4.5 to the available models.
• v1.4.331 (Nov 23, 2025) — Support for GitHub Models: Adds support for using GitHub Models.
• v1.4.322 (Nov 5, 2025) — Interactive HTML Concept Maps and Claude Sonnet 4.5: Adds create_conceptmap pattern for visual knowledge representation using Vis.js, introduces WELLNESS category with psychological analysis patterns, and upgrades to Claude Sonnet 4.5
• v1.4.317 (Sep 21, 2025) — Portuguese Language Variants: Adds BCP 47 locale normalization with support for Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR) and European Portuguese (pt-PT) with intelligent fallback chains
• v1.4.314 (Sep 17, 2025) — Azure OpenAI Migration: Migrates to official openai-go/azure SDK with improved authentication and default API version support
• v1.4.311 (Sep 13, 2025) — More internationalization support: Adds de (German), fa (Persian / Farsi), fr (French), it (Italian), ja (Japanese), pt (Portuguese), zh (Chinese)
• v1.4.309 (Sep 9, 2025) — Comprehensive internationalization support: Includes English and Spanish locale files.
• v1.4.303 (Aug 29, 2025) — New Binary Releases: Linux ARM and Windows ARM targets. You can run Fabric on the Raspberry PI and on your Windows Surface!
• v1.4.294 (Aug 20, 2025) — Venice AI Support: Added the Venice AI provider. Venice is a Privacy-First, Open-Source AI provider. See their "About Venice" page for details.
• v1.4.291 (Aug 18, 2025) — Speech To Text: Add OpenAI speech-to-text support with --transcribe-file, --transcribe-model, and --split-media-file flags.

These features represent our commitment to making Fabric the most powerful and flexible AI augmentation framework available!

Intro videos

Keep in mind that many of these were recorded when Fabric was Python-based, so remember to use the current install instructions below.

• Network Chuck
• David Bombal
• My Own Intro to the Tool
• More Fabric YouTube Videos

Navigation

• fabric
  • What and why
  • Updates
    • Recent Major Features
  • Intro videos
  • Navigation
  • Changelog
  • Philosophy
    • Breaking problems into components
    • Too many prompts
  • Installation
    • One-Line Install (Recommended)
    • Manual Binary Downloads
    • Using package managers
      • macOS (Homebrew)
      • Arch Linux (AUR)
      • Windows
      • Windows (Scoop)
    • From Source
    • Docker
    • Environment Variables
    • Setup
    • Supported AI Providers
    • Per-Pattern Model Mapping
    • Add aliases for all patterns
      • Save your files in markdown using aliases
    • Migration
    • Upgrading
    • Shell Completions
      • Quick install (no clone required)
      • Zsh Completion
      • Bash Completion
      • Fish Completion
  • Usage
    • Debug Levels
    • Dry Run Mode
    • Extensions
  • REST API Server
    • Ollama Compatibility Mode
  • Our approach to prompting
  • Examples
  • Just use the Patterns
    • Prompt Strategies
      • Available Strategies
  • Custom Patterns
    • Setting Up Custom Patterns
    • Using Custom Patterns
    • How It Works
  • Helper Apps
    • to_pdf
    • to_pdf Installation
    • code2context
    • generate_changelog
  • pbpaste
  • Web Interface (Fabric Web App)
  • Meta
    • Primary contributors
    • Contributors
  • 💜 Support This Project

Changelog

Fabric is evolving rapidly.

Stay current with the latest features by reviewing the CHANGELOG for all recent changes.

Philosophy

AI isn't a thing; it's a magnifier of a thing. And that thing is human creativity.

We believe the purpose of technology is to help humans flourish, so when we talk about AI we start with the human problems we want to solve.

Breaking problems into components

Our approach is to break problems into individual pieces (see below) and then apply AI to them one at a time. See below for some examples.

Too many prompts

Prompts are good for this, but the biggest challenge I faced in 2023——which still exists today—is the sheer number of AI prompts out there. We all have prompts that are useful, but it's hard to discover new ones, know if they are good or not, and manage different versions of the ones we like.

One of fabric's primary features is helping people collect and integrate prompts, which we call Patterns, into various parts of their lives.

Fabric has Patterns for all sorts of life and work activities, including:

• Extracting the most interesting parts of YouTube videos and podcasts
• Writing an essay in your own voice with just an idea as an input
• Summarizing opaque academic papers
• Creating perfectly matched AI art prompts for a piece of writing
• Rating the quality of content to see if you want to read/watch the whole thing
• Getting summaries of long, boring content
• Explaining code to you
• Turning bad documentation into usable documentation
• Creating social media posts from any content input
• And a million more…

Installation

One-Line Install (Recommended)

Unix/Linux/macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/fabric/main/scripts/installer/install.sh | bash

Windows PowerShell:

iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/fabric/main/scripts/installer/install.ps1 | iex

See scripts/installer/README.md for custom installation options and troubleshooting.

Manual Binary Downloads

The latest release binary archives and their expected SHA256 hashes can be found at https://github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/releases/latest

Using package managers

NOTE: using Homebrew or the Arch Linux package managers makes fabric available as fabric-ai, so add the following alias to your shell startup files to account for this:

alias fabric='fabric-ai'

macOS (Homebrew)

brew install fabric-ai

Arch Linux (AUR)

yay -S fabric-ai

Windows

Use the official Microsoft supported Winget tool:

winget install danielmiessler.Fabric

Windows (Scoop)

scoop install fabric-ai

From Source

To install Fabric, make sure Go is installed, and then run the following command.

# Install Fabric directly from the repo
go install github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/cmd/fabric@latest

Docker

Run Fabric using pre-built Docker images:

# Use latest image from Docker Hub
docker run --rm -it kayvan/fabric:latest --version

# Use specific version from GHCR
docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ksylvan/fabric:v1.4.305 --version

# Run setup (first time)
mkdir -p $HOME/.fabric-config
docker run --rm -it -v $HOME/.fabric-config:/home/appuser/.config/fabric kayvan/fabric:latest --setup

# Use Fabric with your patterns
docker run --rm -it -v $HOME/.fabric-config:/home/appuser/.config/fabric kayvan/fabric:latest -p summarize

# Run the REST API server (see REST API Server section)
docker run --rm -it -p 8080:8080 -v $HOME/.fabric-config:/home/appuser/.config/fabric kayvan/fabric:latest --serve

Images available at:

• Docker Hub: kayvan/fabric
• GHCR: ksylvan/fabric

See scripts/docker/README.md for building custom images and advanced configuration.

Environment Variables

You may need to set some environment variables in your ~/.bashrc on linux or ~/.zshrc file on mac to be able to run the fabric command. Here is an example of what you can add:

For Intel based macs or linux

# Golang environment variables
export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
export GOPATH=$HOME/go

# Update PATH to include GOPATH and GOROOT binaries
export PATH=$GOPATH/bin:$GOROOT/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH

for Apple Silicon based macs

# Golang environment variables
export GOROOT=$(brew --prefix go)/libexec
export GOPATH=$HOME/go
export PATH=$GOPATH/bin:$GOROOT/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH

Setup

Now run the following command

# Run the setup to set up your directories and keys
fabric --setup

If everything works you are good to go.

Supported AI Providers

Fabric supports a wide range of AI providers:

Native Integrations:

• OpenAI
• OpenAI Codex (ChatGPT/Codex subscription OAuth via private backend)
• Anthropic (Claude)
• Google Gemini
• Ollama (local models)
• Azure OpenAI
• Amazon Bedrock
• Vertex AI
• LM Studio
• Perplexity

OpenAI-Compatible Providers:

• Abacus
• AIML
• Cerebras
• DeepSeek
• DigitalOcean
• GitHub Models
• GrokAI
• Groq
• Langdock
• LiteLLM
• MiniMax
• Mistral
• Novita AI
• OpenRouter
• SiliconCloud
• Together
• Venice AI
• Z AI

Run fabric --setup to configure your preferred provider(s), or use fabric --listvendors to see all available vendors.

Per-Pattern Model Mapping

You can configure specific models for individual patterns using environment variables like FABRIC_MODEL_PATTERN_NAME=vendor|model

This makes it easy to maintain these per-pattern model mappings in your shell startup files.

Add aliases for all patterns

In order to add aliases for all your patterns and use them directly as commands, for example, summarize instead of fabric --pattern summarize You can add the following to your .zshrc or .bashrc file. You can also optionally set the FABRIC_ALIAS_PREFIX environment variable before, if you'd prefer all the fabric aliases to start with the same prefix.

# Loop through all files in the ~/.config/fabric/patterns directory
for pattern_file in $HOME/.config/fabric/patterns/*; do
    # Get the base name of the file (i.e., remove the directory path)
    pattern_name="$(basename "$pattern_file")"
    alias_name="${FABRIC_ALIAS_PREFIX:-}${pattern_name}"

    # Create an alias in the form: alias pattern_name="fabric --pattern pattern_name"
    alias_command="alias $alias_name='fabric --pattern $pattern_name'"

    # Evaluate the alias command to add it to the current shell
    eval "$alias_command"
done

yt() {
    if [ "$#" -eq 0 ] || [ "$#" -gt 2 ]; then
        echo "Usage: yt [-t | --timestamps] youtube-link"
        echo "Use the '-t' flag to get the transcript with timestamps."
        return 1
    fi

    transcript_flag="--transcript"
    if [ "$1" = "-t" ] || [ "$1" = "--timestamps" ]; then
        transcript_flag="--transcript-with-timestamps"
        shift
    fi
    local video_link="$1"
    fabric -y "$video_link" $transcript_flag
}

You can add the below code for the equivalent aliases inside PowerShell by running notepad $PROFILE inside a PowerShell window:

# Path to the patterns directory
$patternsPath = Join-Path $HOME ".config/fabric/patterns"
foreach ($patternDir in Get-ChildItem -Path $patternsPath -Directory) {
    # Prepend FABRIC_ALIAS_PREFIX if set; otherwise use empty string
    $prefix = $env:FABRIC_ALIAS_PREFIX ?? ''
    $patternName = "$($patternDir.Name)"
    $aliasName = "$prefix$patternName"
    # Dynamically define a function for each pattern
    $functionDefinition = @"
function $aliasName {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param(
        [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline = `$true)]
        [string] `$InputObject,

        [Parameter(ValueFromRemainingArguments = `$true)]
        [String[]] `$patternArgs
    )

    begin {
        # Initialize an array to collect pipeline input
        `$collector = @()
    }

    process {
        # Collect pipeline input objects
        if (`$InputObject) {
            `$collector += `$InputObject
        }
    }

    end {
        # Join all pipeline input into a single string, separated by newlines
        `$pipelineContent = `$collector -join "`n"

        # If there's pipeline input, include it in the call to fabric
        if (`$pipelineContent) {
            `$pipelineContent | fabric --pattern $patternName `$patternArgs
        } else {
            # No pipeline input; just call fabric with the additional args
            fabric --pattern $patternName `$patternArgs
        }
    }
}
"@
    # Add the function to the current session
    Invoke-Expression $functionDefinition
}

# Define the 'yt' function as well
function yt {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param(
        [Parameter()]
        [Alias("timestamps")]
        [switch]$t,

        [Parameter(Position = 0, ValueFromPipeline = $true)]
        [string]$videoLink
    )

    begin {
        $transcriptFlag = "--transcript"
        if ($t) {
            $transcriptFlag = "--transcript-with-timestamps"
        }
    }

    process {
        if (-not $videoLink) {
            Write-Error "Usage: yt [-t | --timestamps] youtube-link"
            return
        }
    }

    end {
        if ($videoLink) {
            # Execute and allow output to flow through the pipeline
            fabric -y $videoLink $transcriptFlag
        }
    }
}

This also creates a yt alias that allows you to use yt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b0iet22VIk to get transcripts, comments, and metadata.

Save your files in markdown using aliases

If in addition to the above aliases you would like to have the option to save the output to your favorite markdown note vault like Obsidian then instead of the above add the following to your .zshrc or .bashrc file:

# Define the base directory for Obsidian notes
obsidian_base="/path/to/obsidian"

# Loop through all files in the ~/.config/fabric/patterns directory
for pattern_file in ~/.config/fabric/patterns/*; do
    # Get the base name of the file (i.e., remove the directory path)
    pattern_name=$(basename "$pattern_file")

    # Remove any existing alias with the same name
    unalias "$pattern_name" 2>/dev/null

    # Define a function dynamically for each pattern
    eval "
    $pattern_name() {
        local title=\$1
        local date_stamp=\$(date +'%Y-%m-%d')
        local output_path=\"\$obsidian_base/\${date_stamp}-\${title}.md\"

        # Check if a title was provided
        if [ -n \"\$title\" ]; then
            # If a title is provided, use the output path
            fabric --pattern \"$pattern_name\" -o \"\$output_path\"
        else
            # If no title is provided, use --stream
            fabric --pattern \"$pattern_name\" --stream
        fi
    }
    "
done

This will allow you to use the patterns as aliases like in the above for example summarize instead of fabric --pattern summarize --stream, however if you pass in an extra argument like this summarize "my_article_title" your output will be saved in the destination that you set in obsidian_base="/path/to/obsidian" in the following format YYYY-MM-DD-my_article_title.md where the date gets autogenerated for you. You can tweak the date format by tweaking the date_stamp format.

Migration

If you have the Legacy (Python) version installed and want to migrate to the Go version, here's how you do it. It's basically two steps: 1) uninstall the Python version, and 2) install the Go version.

# Uninstall Legacy Fabric
pipx uninstall fabric

# Clear any old Fabric aliases
(check your .bashrc, .zshrc, etc.)
# Install the Go version
go install github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/cmd/fabric@latest
# Run setup for the new version. Important because things have changed
fabric --setup

Then set your environmental variables as shown above.

Upgrading

The great thing about Go is that it's super easy to upgrade. Just run the same command you used to install it in the first place and you'll always get the latest version.

go install github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/cmd/fabric@latest

Shell Completions

Fabric provides shell completion scripts for Zsh, Bash, and Fish shells, making it easier to use the CLI by providing tab completion for commands and options.

Quick install (no clone required)

You can install completions directly via a one-liner:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/Fabric/refs/heads/main/completions/setup-completions.sh | sh

Optional variants:

# Dry-run (see actions without changing your system)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/Fabric/refs/heads/main/completions/setup-completions.sh | sh -s -- --dry-run

# Override the download source (advanced)
FABRIC_COMPLETIONS_BASE_URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/Fabric/refs/heads/main/completions" \
    sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/Fabric/refs/heads/main/completions/setup-completions.sh)"

Zsh Completion

To enable Zsh completion:

# Copy the completion file to a directory in your $fpath
mkdir -p ~/.zsh/completions
cp completions/_fabric ~/.zsh/completions/

# Add the directory to fpath in your .zshrc before compinit
echo 'fpath=(~/.zsh/completions $fpath)' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'autoload -Uz compinit && compinit' >> ~/.zshrc

Bash Completion

To enable Bash completion:

# Source the completion script in your .bashrc
echo 'source /path/to/fabric/completions/fabric.bash' >> ~/.bashrc

# Or copy to the system-wide bash completion directory
sudo cp completions/fabric.bash /etc/bash_completion.d/

Fish Completion

To enable Fish completion:

# Copy the completion file to the fish completions directory
mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions
cp completions/fabric.fish ~/.config/fish/completions/

Usage

Once you have it all set up, here's how to use it.

fabric -h

Usage:
  fabric [OPTIONS]

Application Options:
  -p, --pattern=                    Choose a pattern from the available patterns
  -v, --variable=                   Values for pattern variables, e.g. -v=#role:expert -v=#points:30
  -C, --context=                    Choose a context from the available contexts
      --session=                    Choose a session from the available sessions
  -a, --attachment=                 Attachment path or URL (e.g. for OpenAI image recognition messages)
  -S, --setup                       Run setup for all reconfigurable parts of fabric
  -t, --temperature=                Set temperature (default: 0.7)
  -T, --topp=                       Set top P (default: 0.9)
  -s, --stream                      Stream
  -P, --presencepenalty=            Set presence penalty (default: 0.0)
  -r, --raw                         Use the defaults of the model without sending chat options
                                    (temperature, top_p, etc.). Only affects OpenAI-compatible providers.
                                    Anthropic models always use smart parameter selection to comply with
                                    model-specific requirements.
  -F, --frequencypenalty=           Set frequency penalty (default: 0.0)
  -l, --listpatterns                List all patterns
  -L, --listmodels                  List all available models
  -x, --listcontexts                List all contexts
  -X, --listsessions                List all sessions
  -U, --updatepatterns              Update patterns
  -c, --copy                        Copy to clipboard
  -m, --model=                      Choose model
  -V, --vendor=                     Specify vendor for chosen model (e.g., -V "LM Studio" -m openai/gpt-oss-20b)
      --modelContextLength=         Model context length (only affects ollama)
  -o, --output=                     Output to file
      --output-session              Output the entire session (also a temporary one) to the output file
  -n, --latest=                     Number of latest patterns to list (default: 0)
  -d, --changeDefaultModel          Change default model
  -y, --youtube=                    YouTube video or play list "URL" to grab transcript, comments from it
                                    and send to chat or print it put to the console and store it in the
                                    output file
      --playlist                    Prefer playlist over video if both ids are present in the URL
      --transcript                  Grab transcript from YouTube video and send to chat (it is used per
                                    default).
      --transcript-with-timestamps  Grab transcript from YouTube video with timestamps and send to chat
      --visual                      Extract visual data from video using OCR and FFmpeg
      --visual-sensitivity          Tolerance for FFmpeg scene detection (0.0 - 1.0)
      --visual-fps                  Extract a specific number of frames per second instead of using scene detection
      --comments                    Grab comments from YouTube video and send to chat
      --metadata                    Output video metadata
  -g, --language=                   Specify the Language Code for the chat, e.g. -g=en -g=zh
  -u, --scrape_url=                 Scrape website URL to markdown using Jina AI
  -q, --scrape_question=            Search question using Jina AI
  -e, --seed=                       Seed to be used for LMM generation
  -w, --wipecontext=                Wipe context
  -W, --wipesession=                Wipe session
      --printcontext=               Print context
      --printsession=               Print session
      --readability                 Convert HTML input into a clean, readable view
      --input-has-vars              Apply variables to user input
      --no-variable-replacement     Disable pattern variable replacement
      --dry-run                     Show what would be sent to the model without actually sending it
      --serve                       Serve the Fabric Rest API
      --serveOllama                 Serve the Fabric Rest API with ollama endpoints
      --address=                    The address to bind the REST API (default: :8080)
      --api-key=                    API key used to secure server routes
      --config=                     Path to YAML config file
      --version                     Print current version
      --listextensions              List all registered extensions
      --addextension=               Register a new extension from config file path
      --rmextension=                Remove a registered extension by name
      --strategy=                   Choose a strategy from the available strategies
      --liststrategies              List all strategies
      --listvendors                 List all vendors
      --shell-complete-list         Output raw list without headers/formatting (for shell completion)
      --search                      Enable web search tool for supported models (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini)
      --search-location=            Set location for web search results (e.g., 'America/Los_Angeles')
      --image-file=                 Save generated image to specified file path (e.g., 'output.png')
      --image-size=                 Image dimensions: 1024x1024, 1536x1024, 1024x1536, auto (default: auto)
      --image-quality=              Image quality: low, medium, high, auto (default: auto)
      --image-compression=          Compression level 0-100 for JPEG/WebP formats (default: not set)
      --image-background=           Background type: opaque, transparent (default: opaque, only for
                                    PNG/WebP)
      --suppress-think              Suppress text enclosed in thinking tags
      --think-start-tag=            Start tag for thinking sections (default: <think>)
      --think-end-tag=              End tag for thinking sections (default: </think>)
      --disable-responses-api       Disable OpenAI Responses API (default: false)
      --voice=                      TTS voice name for supported models (e.g., Kore, Charon, Puck)
                                    (default: Kore)
      --list-gemini-voices          List all available Gemini TTS voices
      --notification                Send desktop notification when command completes
      --notification-command=       Custom command to run for notifications (overrides built-in
                                    notifications)
      --yt-dlp-args=                Additional arguments to pass to yt-dlp (e.g. '--cookies-from-browser brave')
      --thinking=                   Set reasoning/thinking level (e.g., off, low, medium, high, or
                                    numeric tokens for Anthropic or Google Gemini)
      --show-metadata               Print metadata (input/output tokens) to stderr
      --debug=                     Set debug level (0: off, 1: basic, 2: detailed, 3: trace)
Help Options:
  -h, --help                        Show this help message

Debug Levels

Use the --debug flag to control runtime logging:

• 0: off (default)
• 1: basic debug info
• 2: detailed debugging
• 3: trace level

Dry Run Mode

Use --dry-run to preview what would be sent to the AI model without making an API call:

echo "test input" | fabric --dry-run -p summarize

This is useful for debugging patterns, checking prompt construction, and verifying input formatting before using API credits.

Extensions

Fabric supports extensions that can be called within patterns. See the Extension Guide for complete documentation.

Important: Extensions only work within pattern files, not via direct stdin. See the guide for details and examples.

REST API Server

Fabric includes a built-in REST API server that exposes all core functionality over HTTP. Start the server with:

fabric --serve

The server provides endpoints for:

• Chat completions with streaming responses
• Pattern management (create, read, update, delete)
• Context and session management
• Model and vendor listing
• YouTube transcript extraction
• Configuration management

For complete endpoint documentation, authentication setup, and usage examples, see REST API Documentation.

Ollama Compatibility Mode

Fabric can serve as a drop-in replacement for Ollama by exposing Ollama-compatible API endpoints. Start the server with:

fabric --serve --serveOllama

This enables the following Ollama-compatible endpoints:

• GET /api/tags - List available patterns as models
• POST /api/chat - Chat completions
• GET /api/version - Server version

Applications configured to use the Ollama API can point to your Fabric server instead, allowing you to use any of Fabric's supported AI providers through the Ollama interface. Patterns appear as models (e.g., summarize:latest).

Our approach to prompting

Fabric Patterns are different than most prompts you'll see.

• First, we use Markdown to help ensure maximum readability and editability. This not only helps the creator make a good one, but also anyone who wants to deeply understand what it does. Importantly, this also includes the AI you're sending it to!

Here's an example of a Fabric Pattern.

https://github.com/danielmiessler/Fabric/blob/main/data/patterns/extract_wisdom/system.md

• Next, we are extremely clear in our instructions, and we use the Markdown structure to emphasize what we want the AI to do, and in what order.

• And finally, we tend to use the System section of the prompt almost exclusively. In over a year of being heads-down with this stuff, we've just seen more efficacy from doing that. If that changes, or we're shown data that says otherwise, we will adjust.

Examples

The following examples use the macOS pbpaste to paste from the clipboard. See the pbpaste section below for Windows and Linux alternatives.

Now let's look at some things you can do with Fabric.

1. Run the summarize Pattern based on input from stdin. In this case, the body of an article.

   pbpaste | fabric --pattern summarize
   

2. Run the analyze_claims Pattern with the --stream option to get immediate and streaming results.

   pbpaste | fabric --stream --pattern analyze_claims
   

3. Run the extract_wisdom Pattern with the --stream option to get immediate and streaming results from any Youtube video (much like in the original introduction video).

   fabric -y "https://youtube.com/watch?v=uXs-zPc63kM" --stream --pattern extract_wisdom
   

4. Create patterns- you must create a .md file with the pattern and save it to ~/.config/fabric/patterns/[yourpatternname].

5. Run a analyze_claims pattern on a website. Fabric uses Jina AI to scrape the URL into markdown format before sending it to the model.

   fabric -u https://github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/ -p analyze_claims
   

Just use the Patterns

If you're not looking to do anything fancy, and you just want a lot of great prompts, you can navigate to the /patterns directory and start exploring!

We hope that if you used nothing else from Fabric, the Patterns by themselves will make the project useful.

You can use any of the Patterns you see there in any AI application that you have, whether that's ChatGPT or some other app or website. Our plan and prediction is that people will soon be sharing many more than those we've published, and they will be way better than ours.

The wisdom of crowds for the win.

Prompt Strategies

Fabric also implements prompt strategies like "Chain of Thought" or "Chain of Draft" which can be used in addition to the basic patterns.

See the Thinking Faster by Writing Less paper and the Thought Generation section of Learn Prompting for examples of prompt strategies.

Each strategy is available as a small json file in the /strategies directory.

The prompt modification of the strategy is applied to the system prompt and passed on to the LLM in the chat session.

Use fabric -S and select the option to install the strategies in your ~/.config/fabric directory.

Available Strategies

Fabric includes several prompt strategies:

• cot - Chain-of-Thought: Step-by-step reasoning
• cod - Chain-of-Draft: Iterative drafting with minimal notes (5 words max per step)
• tot - Tree-of-Thought: Generate multiple reasoning paths and select the best one
• aot - Atom-of-Thought: Break problems into smallest independent atomic sub-problems
• ltm - Least-to-Most: Solve problems from easiest to hardest sub-problems
• self-consistent - Self-Consistency: Multiple reasoning paths with consensus
• self-refine - Self-Refinement: Answer, critique, and refine
• reflexion - Reflexion: Answer, critique briefly, and provide refined answer
• standard - Standard: Direct answer without explanation

Use the --strategy flag to apply a strategy:

echo "Analyze this code" | fabric --strategy cot -p analyze_code

List all available strategies with:

fabric --liststrategies

Strategies are stored as JSON files in ~/.config/fabric/strategies/. See the default strategies for the format specification.

Custom Patterns

You may want to use Fabric to create your own custom Patterns—but not share them with others. No problem!

Fabric now supports a dedicated custom patterns directory that keeps your personal patterns separate from the built-in ones. This means your custom patterns won't be overwritten when you update Fabric's built-in patterns.

Setting Up Custom Patterns

1. Run the Fabric setup:

   fabric --setup
   

2. Select the "Custom Patterns" option from the Tools menu and enter your desired directory path (e.g., ~/my-custom-patterns)

3. Fabric will automatically create the directory if it does not exist.

Using Custom Patterns

1. Create your custom pattern directory structure:

   mkdir -p ~/my-custom-patterns/my-analyzer
   

2. Create your pattern file

   echo "You are an expert analyzer of ..." > ~/my-custom-patterns/my-analyzer/system.md
   

3. Use your custom pattern:

   fabric --pattern my-analyzer "analyze this text"
   

How It Works

• Priority System: Custom patterns take precedence over built-in patterns with the same name
• Seamless Integration: Custom patterns appear in fabric --listpatterns alongside built-in ones
• Update Safe: Your custom patterns are never affected by fabric --updatepatterns
• Private by Default: Custom patterns remain private unless you explicitly share them

Your custom patterns are completely private and won't be affected by Fabric updates!

Helper Apps

Fabric also makes use of some core helper apps (tools) to make it easier to integrate with your various workflows. Here are some examples:

to_pdf

to_pdf is a helper command that converts LaTeX files to PDF format. You can use it like this:

to_pdf input.tex

This will create a PDF file from the input LaTeX file in the same directory.

You can also use it with stdin which works perfectly with the write_latex pattern:

echo "ai security primer" | fabric --pattern write_latex | to_pdf

This will create a PDF file named output.pdf in the current directory.

to_pdf Installation

To install to_pdf, install it the same way as you install Fabric, just with a different repo name.

go install github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/cmd/to_pdf@latest

Make sure you have a LaTeX distribution (like TeX Live or MiKTeX) installed on your system, as to_pdf requires pdflatex to be available in your system's PATH.

code2context

code2context is used in conjunction with the create_coding_feature pattern. It generates a json representation of a directory of code that can be fed into an AI model with instructions to create a new feature or edit the code in a specified way.

See the Create Coding Feature Pattern README for details.

Install it first using:

go install github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/cmd/code2context@latest

generate_changelog

generate_changelog generates changelogs from git commit history and GitHub pull requests. It walks through your repository's git history, extracts PR information, and produces well-formatted markdown changelogs.

generate_changelog --help

Features include SQLite caching for fast incremental updates, GitHub GraphQL API integration for efficient PR fetching, and optional AI-enhanced summaries using Fabric.

Install it using:

go install github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/cmd/generate_changelog@latest

See the generate_changelog README for detailed usage and options.

pbpaste

The examples use the macOS program pbpaste to paste content from the clipboard to pipe into fabric as the input. pbpaste is not available on Windows or Linux, but there are alternatives.

On Windows, you can use the PowerShell command Get-Clipboard from a PowerShell command prompt. If you like, you can also alias it to pbpaste. If you are using classic PowerShell, edit the file ~\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\.profile.ps1, or if you are using PowerShell Core, edit ~\Documents\PowerShell\.profile.ps1 and add the alias,

Set-Alias pbpaste Get-Clipboard

On Linux, you can use xclip -selection clipboard -o to paste from the clipboard. You will likely need to install xclip with your package manager. For Debian based systems including Ubuntu,

sudo apt update
sudo apt install xclip -y

You can also create an alias by editing ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc and adding the alias,

alias pbpaste='xclip -selection clipboard -o'

Web Interface (Fabric Web App)

Fabric now includes a built-in web interface that provides a GUI alternative to the command-line interface. Refer to Web App README for installation instructions and an overview of features.

Meta

[!NOTE] Special thanks to the following people for their inspiration and contributions!

• Jonathan Dunn for being the absolute MVP dev on the project, including spearheading the new Go version, as well as the GUI! All this while also being a full-time medical doctor!
• Caleb Sima for pushing me over the edge of whether to make this a public project or not.
• Eugen Eisler and Frederick Ros for their invaluable contributions to the Go version
• David Peters for his work on the web interface.
• Joel Parish for super useful input on the project's Github directory structure..
• Joseph Thacker for the idea of a -c context flag that adds pre-created context in the ./config/fabric/ directory to all Pattern queries.
• Jason Haddix for the idea of a stitch (chained Pattern) to filter content using a local model before sending on to a cloud model, i.e., cleaning customer data using llama2 before sending on to gpt-4 for analysis.
• Andre Guerra for assisting with numerous components to make things simpler and more maintainable.

Primary contributors

Contributors

Made with contrib.rocks.

fabric was created by Daniel Miessler in January of 2024.

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