I’m Open-Sourcing the Manim Agent System Prompts Behind Mathify
It’s been a few weeks since I recorded anything. I’ve been quietly improving Mathify in the background, but there’s one part of the project that started to feel more important than any single feature:
The system prompt.
Over the past weeks, I’ve noticed more people building apps that look a lot like Mathify. It almost feels like this is becoming a category of its own: chat with an AI, get structured math / physics / engineering visualizations back.
And the more I worked on the prompt itself, the more it started to feel weird to keep this part private.
So I’m open-sourcing it.
Not the app (at least not yet).
But the engine that actually shapes how the visualizations come out.
mathifylabs/ManimAgentPromptsOpen system-prompt specifications for AI agents that compile natural-language math prompts into layout-safe, publication-quality Manim animations. Defines rendering rules, layout invariants, and refactor protocols for reproducible math visualization pipelines to be consumed by runtimes such as Mathify.
Prompts as Versions, Not Just “One File”
This isn’t how GitHub is usually used — but it’s how I’ve been working.
I don’t treat my system prompt as a single file that I slowly edit forever. I treat it more like a versioned artifact.
I make a change.
I see what breaks.
If it’s worse, I roll back.
The very first version was almost comically simple:
Generate efficient, clear, and aesthetically pleasing Manim scripts.
Prefer simple 2D scenes. Optimize for render time.
That was basically it.
Fast-forward to today and the prompt that actually powers Mathify is much longer — and much stricter:
- Layout rules
- No overlapping text
- Frame bounds safety
- Horizontal extent limits
- Auto-shrinking diagrams
- LaTeX handling
- Line-break rules
- Output structure
- Suspicious layout pattern detection
- Content minimization
- Layout debugging hints
- …and a lot of other small but important constraints
All of that came from trial and error. Real breakages. Real bad renders. Real frustration.
This is the prompt that is actually shipping right now.
Why Open-Source This?
Because the more I did prompt engineering, the more I realized:
There isn’t one correct prompt.
Someone doing chemistry will need something different.
Economics is different.
Physics is different.
Engineering is different.
Even math itself has multiple styles.
So instead of pretending my prompt is “the right one”, I’d rather expose it — and let people build on it.
The goal is not just to show the code.
The goal is to help people understand how to design their own system prompts.
Where This Is Going
Right now, you can see the prompts in a repo.
Soon, you’ll be able to modify them directly inside Mathify.
But the real vision is bigger:
- You’ll be able to browse system prompts
- Search them
- Remix them
- Build on top of community-made prompt “packs”
- Physics packs, finance packs, chemistry packs, economics packs, etc.
Because the system prompt is the real engine.
It’s reusable. It’s composable. And it’s where most of the quality actually comes from.
Contributions Are Welcome
I’m not a prompt-engineering expert. This is just what I’ve learned by breaking things over and over again.
If you want to improve it, fork it.
If you want to build domain-specific prompt packs, even better.
I’m genuinely excited to see what people come up with.
This feels less like “open-sourcing a repo” and more like opening a new layer of the product itself.
And honestly — that part feels way more interesting than any single feature I could ship alone.