system instructions to shorten 'existing_code' is polluting generated 'improved_code'

[buddhamangler-cbre]

Git provider

Github Cloud

System Info

self hosted with modifications

Bug details

I have seen cases when the following portion of system instructions ...

When providing suggestions for long code sections, shorten the presented code with ellipsis (...) for brevity where possible.

is causing the llm to include the brevity "..." into it's code suggestion. For inline code comments that are directly commitable, the result is an "invalid" code suggestion include the "..." as part of its code suggestion.

I have tried various ways of prompt engineering out of it by modifying the prompt for 'improved_code' with limited success so for now I ended up removing the brevity instructions entirely. I don't exactly have a suggestion, but I did want to bring it to your attention.

[qodo-merge-for-open-source]

💡 Auto-generated documentation-based answer:

Thanks for reporting. The docs don’t mention an ellipsis-shortening instruction, but they do outline safeguards that can help avoid invalid “committable” patches when models hallucinate placeholders like "...":

• Improve tool validation: Qodo Merge validates committable suggestions before exposing the “Apply this suggestion” checkbox. If a suggestion can’t be localized or fails a syntax check, the checkbox is omitted and the comment shows: “[To ensure code accuracy, apply this suggestion manually]”. This prevents broken inline suggestions from being applied.
• Dual publishing modes: You can keep suggestions in the table view only (non-committable), or enable committable comments selectively via thresholds. This reduces the risk of malformed inline diffs being published broadly.
• Self-reflection filtering: Suggestions are re-scored and low-quality ones can be filtered via pr_code_suggestions.suggestions_score_threshold, which can help down-rank patterns that include placeholders.

Practical workarounds you can use in self-hosted configs:

• Remove any local “ellipsis for brevity” guidance you added (as you did).
• Add explicit negative instruction to improve:
  [pr_code_suggestions]
  extra_instructions = """\
  • Do not include ellipsis (…) or placeholder lines in code blocks.
  • All improved_code blocks must be complete, compilable, and directly applicable to the exact added lines only.
    """
• Prefer table mode (non-committable) for broad output, and gate committable suggestions via:
  [pr_code_suggestions]
  commitable_code_suggestions = false
  dual_publishing_score_threshold = 8

If the goal is to keep comments short without corrupting code, let the model shorten only prose (not code) via extra_instructions, e.g. “Summaries can be brief; code blocks must be complete—no ellipsis.”

If you can share which prompt section you modified (system vs improved_code), which model, and whether the invalid snippets passed the built-in validation, we can suggest a tighter configuration.

Relevant Sources:

• https://qodo-merge-docs.qodo.ai//core-abilities/code_validation#code-validation
• https://qodo-merge-docs.qodo.ai//tools/improve#configuration-options
• https://qodo-merge-docs.qodo.ai//core-abilities/self_reflection#appendix---relevant-configuration-options
• https://qodo-merge-docs.qodo.ai//usage-guide/additional_configurations#extra-instructions