Configure Snippet and Prompt Expansion Triggers

Customize the prefix and trigger sequences SprintBrain watches for so snippet and prompt expansions fire exactly when you want — and never by accident.

A trigger is the character or sequence SprintBrain watches for in text fields. When you type the trigger prefix followed by a snippet shortcut and press Tab, SprintBrain replaces everything you typed with the full expanded text. Configure your triggers in Settings > Triggers so expansions fire exactly when you intend — and never by accident.

Default triggers

SprintBrain ships with sensible defaults for every expansion mode:

Feature	Default prefix / sequence	Example
Snippet expansion	/	Type /greet then press Tab
Prompt picker	""" (three double-quotes)	Opens the prompt browser
Selection suggestions	On by default	Select text to see matching snippets

The snippet shortcut prefix and the trigger sequences are configured separately, so you can mix and match to suit your workflow.

Customizing the trigger

Open Settings > Triggers to change any of the following:

Shortcut prefix

The character(s) you type directly before a snippet shortcut for instant expansion (e.g. /hello expands immediately without opening the picker). Choose from /, ::, or ;. The change takes effect the moment you save — no extension restart needed.

Snippet trigger sequence

The sequence that opens the snippet picker overlay. Must be 1–5 non-whitespace, non-alphanumeric characters. The sequence must not conflict with your prompt trigger sequence.

Prompt trigger sequence

The sequence that opens the prompt picker overlay. Defaults to """. Must be 1–5 non-whitespace, non-alphanumeric characters and must not conflict with your snippet trigger.

Activation key

The key that confirms your selection in the picker — defaults to Tab for both snippets and prompts. You can set separate activation keys for each if your target sites intercept Tab.

Choose a trigger prefix that doesn’t appear in your normal typing. If / fires too often while writing file paths or markdown, ; is a popular alternative that almost never appears in prose.

Selection-based suggestions

When you select a word or phrase inside any text field, SprintBrain shows a small floating menu of snippets whose name or content matches your selection. Click a suggestion to replace the selected text with the fully expanded snippet — dynamic fields are filled inline before insertion.

You can turn selection suggestions off in Settings > Triggers if you prefer not to see the floating menu.

Prompt shortcuts

In addition to the prompt picker trigger, every prompt in your library can have its own dedicated shortcut. Set it in the prompt editor (for example /coderev for a code review prompt). Typing that shortcut + Tab expands the prompt directly into the active field without opening the picker first.

Prompt shortcuts follow the same prefix and activation key as snippet shortcuts — there’s one consistent expansion pattern to learn.