System Prompt of the AI-Powered Theia IDE Leaked!?

You won’t believe this—the entire system prompt of the AI-powered Theia IDE just got exposed.

But here’s the twist: we did it on purpose – and from the start.

While other proprietary AI coding tools scramble to contain leaks of their prompts—some hidden deep in binaries, others supposedly revealed through bugs or prompt injection—the AI-powered Theia IDE goes in the exact opposite direction.

We believe the future of AI-powered developer tools isn’t about secrecy.

It’s about transparency, control, and trust.

The Great Prompt Leaks of 2023–2025

The internet is full of posts and discussions claiming to reveal leaked system prompts from popular proprietary AI coding tools. While not all of these prompts have been officially confirmed—and some may be incomplete, outdated, or fabricated—they highlight an important point:

Prompt engineering is the central gear in AI-native IDEs—and it’s almost always hidden.

Here’s a snapshot of what the community has uncovered or discussed:

• The system prompt of GitHub Copilot Chat was allegedly exposed via prompt injection, revealing its internal behavior rules and response guidelines.
• Cursor, a Claude-based AI IDE, reportedly exposed its full system prompt to users during a 2025 update—though this has not been formally verified.
• Replit Ghostwriter has been the subject of several community-shared prompt dumps, including claims of a full agent structure and toolset being revealed. The authenticity and completeness of these leaks remain uncertain.
• A prompt attributed to Windsurf, Codeium’s new tool, circulated online showing a highly dramatized alignment strategy involving fictional threats to the AI. Codeium later clarified that this prompt was experimental, not used in production.
• Similar claims have emerged around Vercel’s v0 and Devin AI, with prompt logic reportedly reverse-engineered or extracted and shared by enthusiasts.

Whether all of these leaks are genuine or not, they reinforce a broader issue: in many AI-powered tools, users and developers are left in the dark about what drives the assistant’s behavior—and how to change it.

Each case brought the same question to the surface:

If prompts define how the AI behaves—why are they hidden from users?

Open by Design: The Theia IDE Difference

With the AI-powered Theia IDE, we took a different path. All prompts in Theia AI and the AI-powered Theia IDE are:

• Stored as individual, readable files
• Licensed under the MIT License
• Editable live in the IDE—even by end users

That’s right:

Users/developers alike can fully inspect, modify, and experiment with AI behavior.

Want a chat agent that explains legacy code in pirate voice?
Or a domain-specific fixer for XML configs?
You’re free to make it—and you’re legally allowed to keep it to yourself.

🛠️ Prompt Engineering for Everyone

In many proprietary tools, the prompt is the “secret sauce.”
In the Theia IDE, we treat prompts as a shared recipe—and give you the kitchen.

This empowers:

• Tool builders to adapt agents to their use case
• Enterprise teams to meet compliance needs
• End users to tweak their dev experience on the fly

No vendor lock-in. No hidden logic.

Just clean, transparent AI you can trust and tailor.

💬 Why MIT?

We chose the MIT license not just for permissiveness—but for clarity.

By removing legal friction, we encourage innovation:

• Prompt tweaks for industry-specific use cases
• Experimental workflows for unique team setups
• Community-driven enhancements (contribute back—or don’t)

In contrast to the secrecy arms race elsewhere, we’re building a future where openness wins.

🚀 TL;DR: Our Prompts Can’t Be Leaked—They’re Already Yours

The next time a tweet goes viral because someone “hacked” a prompt out of a commercial tool like GitHub Copilot, Cursor or Windsurf, just remember:

At Eclipse Theia, you don’t need to break in. We give you the keys.

The AI-powered Theia IDE stands as the truly open alternative in a sea of closed AI coding assistants.

🎥 Watch the demo: Build AI-Native Tools with Full Control – 100% Open

🧪 Try it now: Get the AI-powered Theia IDE

📖 Read more: Introducing the AI-powered Theia IDE

💼 Follow us: EclipseSource on LinkedIn

Are you thinking about leveraging AI for your development tools? At EclipseSource, we bring extensive expertise in tool development and provide consulting and implementation services tailored to your needs and with a strong focus on AI-driven tools. From web to cloud-based solutions, we’re your partner for the latest in Eclipse Theia and VS Code technology.

👉 Contact us to find the perfect AI-driven solution for your projects!