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Values

Values name the pieces of a prompt that change from one project or binding to another. They let a project name or shared rule appear in several instructions without maintaining a separate copy in every field.

Global values and local overrides

Section titled “Global values and local overrides”

Global values provide shared inputs for the harness, while binding-local values adapt those inputs to one agent or skill. A local value overrides a matching global key only within the binding that declares it.

This configuration gives the main reviewer a shared project name and overrides that name for a worker-specific reviewer:

atlante.jsonc
{
  "$schema": "https://atlante.sh/schema/v0.1/schema.json",
  "values": { "project": "billing-api" },
  "agents": {
    "reviewer": {
      "$template": "@atlante/pack/agent",
      "description": "Reviews {{values.project}}.",
      "identity": "You review {{values.project}}.",
      "mission": "Find defects before merge."
    },
    "worker-reviewer": {
      "$template": "@atlante/pack/agent",
      "values": { "project": "billing-worker" },
      "description": "Reviews {{values.project}}.",
      "identity": "You review {{values.project}}.",
      "mission": "Find defects before merge."
    }
  }
}

After interpolation, each description contains the project name from the value scope of its own binding:

reviewer.description        -> Reviews billing-api.
worker-reviewer.description -> Reviews billing-worker.

The worker override leaves the global value unchanged, so other bindings still receive billing-api unless they define their own override.

From a value reference to rendered text

Section titled “From a value reference to rendered text”

Interpolation substitutes {{values.key}} references in descriptions and template-owned content before the selected template renders its input. For the main reviewer, the identity passes through these stages:

authored identity:  You review {{values.project}}.
resolved identity:  You review billing-api.
renderer field:    {{identity}}
rendered text:     You review billing-api.

The value reference belongs to the authored content, while {{identity}} belongs to the template’s rendering syntax. The renderer receives the resolved identity field, not the values dictionary as an additional input. Missing value references produce diagnostics rather than unresolved prompt text, making a misspelled name visible during validation.

Values and structured input

Section titled “Values and structured input”

Values are strings, which makes them suitable for names, descriptions, and rules inserted into other text fields. A template can separately accept arrays, objects, or other input types defined by its own schema.

For example, the first-party agent template accepts a sections array as structured input rather than as a named value:

Configuration excerpt
{
  "agents": {
    "reviewer": {
      "$template": "@atlante/pack/agent",
      "identity": "You are a careful reviewer.",
      "mission": "Find defects before merge.",
      "sections": [
        {
          "responsibilities": [
            "Read the relevant source and tests.",
            "Report findings with supporting evidence."
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Here, sections is passed to the template as an array. It is not declared under values or referenced through {{values.*}}. Templates explains structured template input, while Resolution describes removing an inherited value with null.

The working directory value

Section titled “The working directory value”

The supported system value {{sys.cwd.basename}} supplies the basename of the process’s current working directory as a string. It can provide a project name when the directory is an appropriate source for that value:

Configuration excerpt
{
  "values": {
    "project": "{{sys.cwd.basename}}"
  }
}

The working directory then becomes an input to the rendered content, so changing its basename can change the resulting prompt.