Contributing to Prompts for MATLAB

December 9, 2025 ยท View on GitHub

This guide explains how to add prompts to the collection.

How to Contribute

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Choose or create a category in the prompts/ directory
  3. Create your prompt file using the template
  4. Add your prompt to the category README
  5. Submit a pull request

Prompt Guidelines

Quality Standards

Your prompt should be:

  • Tested: Verify it works with at least one AI coding assistant
  • Clear: Easy to understand and use
  • Complete: Include all necessary context and requirements
  • Practical: Solve a real problem MATLAB users face
  • Well-documented: Include usage examples and tips

What Makes a Good Prompt?

Good prompts:

  • Specify concrete requirements
  • Include example inputs/outputs
  • Mention MATLAB release requirements
  • List required toolboxes
  • Provide usage examples
  • Explain expected results

Avoid:

  • Vague or ambiguous requests
  • Overly complex multi-step prompts (break them down)
  • Prompts requiring specific proprietary data
  • Duplicates of existing prompts

File Structure

Prompt File Template

Each prompt should be a markdown file with this structure:

---
title: Prompt Title
description: One-line description
tags: [matlab, relevant, tags]
release: R2024a+ or "All releases" or "Requires ToolboxName"
notes: 
---

# Prompt Title

Brief description (1-2 sentences).

## Metadata

- **Tags:** List with backticks
- **MATLAB Release:** Requirements
- **Required Toolboxes:** List or "None"
- **Difficulty:** Level

## The Prompt

\`\`\`text
Your actual prompt text here.
Include all instructions and placeholders like [PASTE CODE HERE].
\`\`\`

## Usage Tips

1. Tip one
2. Tip two
3. Tip three

## Example Usage

### Example 1: Descriptive Name

\`\`\`
Example of using the prompt with specific values filled in
\`\`\`

## Related Prompts

- [Related Prompt 1](../category/prompt-name.md)
- [Related Prompt 2](other-prompt.md)

## References

- [MATLAB Documentation Link](https://www.mathworks.com/help/...)

Category README

After adding your prompt file, update the category's README.md:

### [Your Prompt Name](your-prompt-file.md)
Brief one-line description of what the prompt does.

**Tags:** `tag1` `tag2` `tag3`
**Release:** Requirements

Categories

Choose the most appropriate category for your prompt:

  • live-scripts-documentation - Live Scripts, documentation, help text
  • programming - Core MATLAB, performance, error handling, testing
  • ai-and-statistics - ML, deep learning, statistics
  • signal-processing - DSP, filters, spectral analysis
  • image-processing-and-computer-vision - Computer vision, image enhancement
  • control-systems - Controllers, stability, system modeling
  • code-generation - MATLAB Coder, deployment, compilation

If your prompt doesn't fit any category, propose a new one in your pull request.

Naming Conventions

File Names

  • Use lowercase with hyphens: my-prompt-name.md
  • Be descriptive: design-digital-filter.md not filter.md
  • Avoid version numbers in names

Prompt Titles

  • Use title case: "Design Digital Filter"
  • Be specific: "Build Neural Network with Deep Learning Toolbox" not "Create Network"
  • Start with action verbs: Design, Create, Analyze, Optimize, etc.

Tags

Use consistent, searchable tags:

Toolbox Tags

Use official toolbox names:

  • signal-processing-toolbox
  • image-processing-toolbox
  • deep-learning-toolbox
  • statistics-and-machine-learning-toolbox
  • control-system-toolbox

Feature Tags

Common tags to use:

  • matlab (always include)
  • optimization, vectorization, performance
  • error-handling, validation, testing
  • classification, regression, clustering
  • filter-design, fft, spectral-analysis
  • live-script, documentation
  • deployment, code-generation

Release Tags

  • r2024a, r2025a, etc. (when specific features from that release are required)

Release Requirements

Be specific about MATLAB release requirements:

  • "All releases" - Works with any MATLAB version
  • "R2019b+" - Requires R2019b or newer (e.g., for arguments block)
  • "R2025a+" - Requires specific release features
  • "Requires Toolbox Name" - Specify toolbox requirements

Testing Your Prompt

Before submitting, test your prompt:

  1. Try it yourself with an AI coding assistant
  2. Verify the output meets the prompt requirements
  3. Test with variations to ensure robustness
  4. Check for edge cases mentioned in the prompt

Pull Request Process

  1. Fork and create a branch (git checkout -b add-new-prompt)
  2. Add your prompt file to the appropriate category folder
  3. Update the category README with your prompt
  4. DO NOT update the main README (stays static)
  5. Commit with clear message (git commit -m "Add prompt for X")
  6. Push and create PR with description of your prompt

PR Description Template

## Prompt: [Prompt Name]

**Category:** [category-name]
**Tested with:** [AI tool names]

### What does this prompt do?
[Brief description]

### Why is it useful?
[Explain the use case]

### Testing
- [ ] Tested with at least one AI coding assistant
- [ ] Includes usage examples
- [ ] Added to category README
- [ ] Follows template structure

Code of Conduct

  • Be respectful and constructive
  • Focus on quality over quantity
  • Help improve existing prompts
  • Credit others' work when building on it

Questions?

  • Open an issue for questions or suggestions
  • Check existing prompts for examples
  • Review the prompt template

License

By contributing, you agree to license your contributions under the CC-BY-4.0 license.

We appreciate your contributions.