The Importance of Detail

Clear and detailed prompts are essential for high-quality outputs. Argus requires greater specificity than general AI tools. Think of your prompt as instructions you’d give to a software engineer building the solution.

Prompt Length and Language

No strict length requirement exists, though concise, clear instructions work best. Argus supports multiple languages, so use whichever you’re most comfortable with.

Break Down Complex Prompts

Argus performs best with shorter code snippets. For complex tasks, divide requests into smaller logical steps and execute them sequentially.

Avoid Visual References

Since Argus doesn’t visualize your model, avoid vague descriptions like “the element in the top-left corner.” Instead, identify elements by ID, type, or unique properties, or select them directly in your model.

Specify Items in Linked Files

Clearly indicate whether elements belong to linked files or the main file, and explain how linked elements relate to primary model items.

Good Prompts, Bad Prompts

Example 1

Bad:

Create Room Schedules for rooms with an area greater than 10 square meters.

Good:

Create a room schedule, add the 'Area' parameter to the schedule, and filter it to show rooms with an 'Area' greater than 10 square meters.

Example 2

Bad:

Add the 'Volume' parameter to 'Columns' and override it with the previous value.

Good:

Create a new parameter named 'New Volume' for the 'Columns' category. Then, read the value of the 'Volume' parameter and write it to the newly created parameter for each column in this project.

Example 3

Bad:

Duplicate all views under 'Floor Plan' and place them under 'Architectural Plan'.

Good:

Duplicate all views of type 'Floor Plan' and change their type to 'Architectural Plan'.

Example 4

Bad:

Change the title block on each sheet to 'A3'.

Good:

Change the type of title blocks on each sheet to 'A3'.

Example 5

Bad:

Change the material of the selected wall from 'Brick' to 'Concrete'.

Good:

Change the material of the 'Core' layer of the selected wall to 'Concrete' if its current material name is 'Brick'.

Example 6

Bad:

In the current view turn on 'Furniture' category.

Good:

In the current view, set the visibility of the 'Furniture' category to visible in the Visibility/Graphic settings.

Example 7

Bad:

In the current view, set the color of pipes with a length greater than 4 meters to red.

Good:

Create a view filter to color pipes with a length greater than 4 meters in red, and apply the filter to the current plan view.

Example 8

Bad:

Set all levels to 'Non-Structural'.

Good:

For all levels in this project, uncheck the 'Structural' parameter.

Example 9

Bad:

Import the Excel file named 'walls.xlsx' from the desktop and update the 'Comments' parameter.

Good:

Import the Excel file named 'walls.xlsx' from the desktop and update the 'Comments' parameter of elements. The first column of the Excel file contains the Element ID of each element, and the second column contains the 'Comments' value for each element.