Passing Variables

Pass values into prompt templates using CLI flags.

Basic usage

Each variable in the prompt becomes a --flag:

pod translate --language spanish --content "Hello world"

For a prompt template like:

Translate the following to {{language}}:

{{content}}

Multiple variables

Pass as many flags as the prompt requires:

pod generate-email \
  --tone formal \
  --topic "project update" \
  --recipient "engineering team"

Quoted values

Use quotes for values with spaces:

pod summarize --topic "machine learning safety"

Defaults

If a variable has a default value in the prompt (e.g., {{language:english}}), you don't need to pass it. Only pass the flag if you want to override:

# Uses default language
pod summarize --content "Your text"

# Overrides default
pod summarize --language spanish --content "Your text"

Using stdin

Pipe content via stdin instead of using --content:

cat article.md | pod summarize --topic "AI"

See Piping Input for more on stdin usage.

Model override

The --model flag is not a variable — it tells the CLI which AI model to use:

pod summarize --model sonnet --content "Your text"