Creating a Software Development Assistant

Introduction

In the fast-paced world of software development, having the ability to "talk to your code" offers significant advantages. Whether you're diving into a large codebase or starting a new project, BrainSoup's customizable agents can transform your workflow:

• Get started with a large code base right away: With an agent that can instantly answer any question about your code, you save valuable time and effort.
• Start a new project quickly: An agent tailored to understand your needs can assist in writing the code for you, streamlining the development process.

This guide will walk you through setting up such an assistant, optimizing it for effective collaboration on your projects.

1. Indexing Your Source Code

Before creating your software development assistant, you need to make your source code accessible to the agent. There are two primary methods to achieve this:

Method 1: Document Folder

Add your source code to the Document folder. This allows the agent to reference it when answering questions but does not permit direct file manipulation.

Method 2: Sandboxed File System

Place your source code in the Sandboxed File System of a chat room or relocate the chat room's Sandboxed File System to your source code directory. This enables the agent to both answer questions about the code and work directly with files.

2. Utilizing Ignore Files

2.1. What are Ignore Files?

Ignore Files are a powerful feature in BrainSoup that allows you to manage the content visible to agents. By specifying which files should be hidden and excluded from indexing, you can prevent irrelevant data from being part of an agent's long-term memory.

To define an Ignore File, create a new file in the desired directory using a text editor and name it .gitignore or .BrainSoupIgnore . You can then add patterns following the gitignore syntax to specify which files and directories should be excluded from indexing. You can place Ignore Files at any level within the source code directory structure, each affecting the files and directories within its scope.

You can learn more about Ignore Files in the article.

2.2. Practical Applications

Here's an example of a typical Ignore File that you can place at the root of a C++ project, in a file named .BrainSoupIgnore :

# Ignore everything by default
*

# Allow only specific file extensions
!*.cpp
!*.h
!*.md
!*.txt

# You can also allow specific directories
!src/
!docs/

In this example:

• The * pattern ignores all files by default.
• The ! negation pattern allows files with the .cpp , .h , .md , and .txt extensions to be indexed.
• Specific directories like src/ and docs/ are also allowed, meaning their contents will not be ignored.

This setup ensures that only relevant source code and documentation files are included in the agent's long-term memory, optimizing performance and resource usage.

3. Creating Your Software Development Assistant

3.1. Defining the Agent's Identity

Start by navigating to the main window of BrainSoup and initiate the creation of a new agent. Assign an avatar, name, role, and persona that align with the assistant's function as a software development aid.

3.2. Configuring AI Settings

Choose an LLM with strong reasoning capabilities and a large context window, such as GPT-4o or Codestral. Adjust settings for working memory (32K tokens should be sufficient), response size (at least 5000 tokens to allow the agent to write large code snippets), and a balanced creativity to suit development tasks.

3.3. Enabling Specific Abilities

If you want your agent to be able to modify your source code files directly, give it the FileSystemRead and FileSystemWrite tools. This allows the agent to read and write files in the Sandboxed File System, enabling it to interact with your source code.

4. Optional: Creating a Custom Context

You can improve your agent's comprehension by assigning it a Custom Context that explains foundational concepts of your project. Store this context in JSON format within the Context folder. This medium-term memory enhances the agent's ability to provide relevant insights and solutions based on project-specific information.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can set up a powerful Software Development Assistant in BrainSoup that enhances productivity and streamlines workflows. Tailor your agent to meet specific project needs, leveraging advanced AI capabilities to transform how you manage development tasks.