# Refinery

> Refine vague ideas into production-ready prompts

**Stop wasting API quota on follow-up prompts.** Refinery enhances your requests so AI agents understand exactly what you need — the first time.

## Features

### Prompt Refinement

Type `@refine` followed by your request:

- `@refine make it look better`
- `@refine add dark mode`
- `@refine create 50 features for a surreal museum`

Get back a comprehensive, task-oriented prompt ready to paste into your AI agent.

### Powered by Gemini

Uses Google's Gemini API with Google Search for the latest best practices.

### Commands

| Command | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| `@refine [prompt]` | Refine your prompt |
| `@refine /templates` | Browse prompt templates |
| `@refine /history` | View recent refinements |
| `@refine /help` | Show help |

### History Sidebar

View and re-use past refinements from the Refinery panel in the activity bar.

### Keyboard Shortcuts

| Shortcut | Action |
|----------|--------|
| `Ctrl+Shift+R` | Refine selected text |
| `Ctrl+Alt+R` | Open Dashboard |

## Getting Started

1. Install the extension
2. Get a free API key from [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey)
3. Run `Refinery: Set API Key` command
4. Start refining prompts with `@refine`!

## Settings

- `refinery.model` - Choose: gemini-2.5-flash (default), flash-lite, 2.5-pro, 3-pro-preview

## Research Foundation

Refinery's prompt engineering is based on industry-leading research:

- [Anthropic's Claude Code Best Practices](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/claude-code-best-practices)
- [Claude 4 Prompt Engineering Guidelines](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/claude-4-best-practices)

This ensures your refined prompts follow proven patterns that work across all major AI coding agents.

## What's New in v0.2.0

- **History Sidebar** - View and re-use past refinements
- **Prompt Templates** - 18 quick-start templates in 6 categories
- **Better Prompt Handling** - Detailed prompts are preserved, not summarized
- **Professional UI** - Cleaner, less cluttered output

## License

MIT