add prompt dir app option

docs/pipeline/diagrams/planned/class.puml

@@ -141,37 +141,38 @@ package "Domain: Models" {
 
   LocationContext *-- Completeness
 }
-
+@startuml
-package "Domain: Application Configuration"{
+package "Domain: Application Configuration" {
   class SamplingOptions {
-    + temperature : float = 1.0F
+    + temperature: float = 1.0F
-    + top_p : float = 0.95F
+    + top_p: float = 0.95F
-    + top_k : uint32_t = 64
+    + top_k: uint32_t = 64
-    + n_ctx : uint32_t = 8192
+    + n_ctx: uint32_t = 8192
-    + seed : int = -1
+    + seed: int = -1
   }
 
   class GeneratorOptions {
-    + model_path : std::filesystem::path
+    + model_path: std::filesystem::path
-    + use_mocked : bool = false
+    + use_mocked: bool = false
-    + sampling : SamplingOptions
+    + sampling: std::optional<SamplingOptions>
   }
 
   class PipelineOptions {
-    + output_path : std::filesystem::path
+    + output_path: std::filesystem::path
-    + log_path : std::filesystem::path
+    + log_path: std::filesystem::path
   }
 
   class ApplicationOptions {
-    + generator : GeneratorOptions
+    + generator: GeneratorOptions
-    + pipeline : PipelineOptions
+    + pipeline: PipelineOptions
   }
 
   ' --- Domain Model Relationships ---
   ApplicationOptions *-- GeneratorOptions
   ApplicationOptions *-- PipelineOptions
-  GeneratorOptions   *-- SamplingOptions
+  GeneratorOptions o-- SamplingOptions
 }
+@endum
 
 package "Domain: Policy" {
 

tooling/pipeline/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -85,14 +85,14 @@ endif()
 FetchContent_Declare(
     llama-cpp
     GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp.git
-    GIT_TAG        b8742
+    GIT_TAG b8742
 )
 FetchContent_MakeAvailable(llama-cpp)
 
 FetchContent_Declare(
     boost-di
     GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/boost-ext/di.git
-    GIT_TAG        v1.3.0
+    GIT_TAG v1.3.0
 )
 FetchContent_MakeAvailable(boost-di)
 if(TARGET Boost.DI AND NOT TARGET boost::di)
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ endif()
 FetchContent_Declare(
     spdlog
     GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/gabime/spdlog.git
-    GIT_TAG        v1.15.3
+    GIT_TAG v1.15.3
 )
 FetchContent_MakeAvailable(spdlog)
 
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ set(SOURCES
     src/services/wikipedia/fetch_extract.cc
     src/services/sqlite/sqlite_export_service.cc
     src/services/sqlite/build_database_path.cc
-        src/services/sqlite/process_record.cc
+    src/services/sqlite/process_record.cc
-        src/services/sqlite/initialize.cc
+    src/services/sqlite/initialize.cc
     src/services/sqlite/finalize.cc
     src/web_client/curl_global_state.cc
     src/web_client/curl_web_client_get.cc
@@ -133,14 +133,14 @@ set(SOURCES
     src/data_generation/llama/helpers.cc
     src/data_generation/llama/infer.cc
     src/data_generation/llama/load.cc
-    src/data_generation/llama/load_brewery_prompt.cc
+    src/services/prompt_directory.cc
     src/data_generation/prompt_formatting/gemma4_jinja_prompt_formatter.cc
     src/data_generation/mock/deterministic_hash.cc
     src/data_generation/mock/generate_brewery.cc
     src/data_generation/mock/generate_user.cc
     src/json_handling/json_loader.cc
-        src/services/sqlite/helpers/sqlite_connection_helpers.cpp
+    src/services/sqlite/helpers/sqlite_connection_helpers.cpp
-        src/services/sqlite/helpers/sqlite_statement_helpers.cpp
+    src/services/sqlite/helpers/sqlite_statement_helpers.cpp
 )
 
 # =============================================================================
@@ -173,6 +173,6 @@ configure_file(
 
 add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD
     COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_directory
-        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/prompts
+    ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/prompts
-        ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/prompts
+    ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/prompts
 )

tooling/pipeline/includes/data_generation/llama_generator.h

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include "data_generation/data_generator.h"
 #include "data_generation/prompt_formatting/prompt_formatter.h"
 #include "data_model/application_options.h"
+#include "services/prompt_directory.h"
 
 struct llama_model;
 struct llama_context;
@@ -33,10 +34,12 @@ class LlamaGenerator final : public DataGenerator {
    * @param options Parsed application options.
    * @param model_path Filesystem path to GGUF model assets.
    * @param prompt_formatter Formatter that produces model-specific prompts.
+   * @param prompt_directory Directory service for loading named prompt files.
    */
   LlamaGenerator(const ApplicationOptions& options,
                  const std::string& model_path,
-                 std::unique_ptr<IPromptFormatter> prompt_formatter);
+                 std::unique_ptr<IPromptFormatter> prompt_formatter,
+                 std::unique_ptr<IPromptDirectory> prompt_directory);
 
   ~LlamaGenerator() override;
 
@@ -119,15 +122,6 @@ class LlamaGenerator final : public DataGenerator {
                              int max_tokens = kDefaultMaxTokens,
                              std::string_view grammar = {});
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Loads the brewery system prompt from disk.
-   *
-   * @param prompt_file_path Prompt file path to try first.
-   * @return Loaded prompt text.
-   */
-  std::string LoadBrewerySystemPrompt(
-      const std::filesystem::path& prompt_file_path);
-
   ModelHandle model_;
   ContextHandle context_;
   float sampling_temperature_ = 1.0F;
@@ -135,8 +129,8 @@ class LlamaGenerator final : public DataGenerator {
   uint32_t sampling_top_k_ = kDefaultSamplingTopK;
   std::mt19937 rng_;
   uint32_t n_ctx_ = kDefaultContextSize;
-  std::string brewery_system_prompt_;
   std::unique_ptr<IPromptFormatter> prompt_formatter_;
+  std::unique_ptr<IPromptDirectory> prompt_directory_;
 };
 
 #endif  // BIERGARTEN_PIPELINE_INCLUDES_DATA_GENERATION_LLAMA_GENERATOR_H_

tooling/pipeline/includes/data_model/application_options.h

@@ -7,36 +7,66 @@
  */
 
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <optional>
 #include <string>
 
 /**
- * @brief Program options for the Biergarten pipeline application.
+ * @brief LLM sampling parameters.
  */
-struct ApplicationOptions {
+struct SamplingOptions {
-  /// @brief Path to the LLM model file (gguf format); mutually exclusive with
-  /// use_mocked.
-  std::string model_path;
-
-  /// @brief Use mocked generator instead of LLM; mutually exclusive with
-  /// model_path.
-  bool use_mocked = false;
-
   /// @brief LLM sampling temperature (0.0 to 1.0, higher = more random).
   float temperature = 1.0F;
 
-  /// @brief LLM nucleus sampling top-p parameter (0.0 to 1.0, higher = more
+  /// @brief LLM nucleus sampling top-p parameter.
-  /// random).
   float top_p = 0.95F;
 
   /// @brief LLM top-k sampling parameter.
   uint32_t top_k = 64;
 
-  /// @brief Context window size (tokens) for LLM inference. Higher values
+  /// @brief Context window size (tokens).
-  /// support longer prompts but use more memory.
   uint32_t n_ctx = 8192;
 
-  /// @brief Random seed for sampling (-1 for random, otherwise non-negative).
+  /// @brief Random seed (-1 for random, otherwise non-negative).
   int seed = -1;
 };
 
+/**
+ * @brief Configuration for the LLM generator component.
+ */
+struct GeneratorOptions {
+  /// @brief Path to the LLM model file (gguf format).
+  std::filesystem::path model_path;
+
+  /// @brief Use mocked generator instead of actual LLM inference.
+  bool use_mocked = false;
+
+  /// @brief Specific sampling parameters for this generator.
+  /// If nullopt, the application should use global defaults.
+  std::optional<SamplingOptions> sampling;
+};
+
+/**
+ * @brief Configuration for the pipeline execution and output.
+ */
+struct PipelineOptions {
+  /// @brief Directory for generated artifacts.
+  std::filesystem::path output_path;
+
+  /// @brief Directory that contains named prompt files (e.g.
+  /// BREWERY_GENERATION.md).
+  std::filesystem::path prompt_dir;
+
+  /// @brief Path for application logs.
+  std::filesystem::path log_path;
+};
+
+/**
+ * @brief Root configuration object for the Biergarten pipeline.
+ */
+struct ApplicationOptions {
+  GeneratorOptions generator;
+  PipelineOptions pipeline;
+};
+
 #endif  // BIERGARTEN_PIPELINE_INCLUDES_DATA_MODEL_APPLICATION_OPTIONS_H_

tooling/pipeline/includes/services/export_service.h

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
  * @brief Abstraction for persisting generated brewery data.
  */
 
+#include <cstdint>
+
 #include "data_model/generated_brewery.h"
 
 /**

tooling/pipeline/includes/services/prompt_directory.h

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+#ifndef BIERGARTEN_PIPELINE_INCLUDES_SERVICES_PROMPT_DIRECTORY_H_
+#define BIERGARTEN_PIPELINE_INCLUDES_SERVICES_PROMPT_DIRECTORY_H_
+
+/**
+ * @file services/prompt_directory.h
+ * @brief Interface and filesystem-backed implementation for named prompt
+ * loading.
+ *
+ * Prompt files are resolved by key: a key of "BREWERY_GENERATION" maps to the
+ * file <prompt_dir>/BREWERY_GENERATION.md.  The interface is kept intentionally
+ * narrow so test doubles can be injected without touching the filesystem.
+ */
+
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <stdexcept>
+#include <string>
+#include <string_view>
+#include <unordered_map>
+
+/**
+ * @brief Interface for loading named prompt files.
+ */
+class IPromptDirectory {
+ public:
+  IPromptDirectory() = default;
+  IPromptDirectory(const IPromptDirectory&) = delete;
+  IPromptDirectory& operator=(const IPromptDirectory&) = delete;
+  IPromptDirectory(IPromptDirectory&&) = delete;
+  IPromptDirectory& operator=(IPromptDirectory&&) = delete;
+  virtual ~IPromptDirectory() = default;
+
+  /**
+   * @brief Loads the prompt associated with @p key.
+   *
+   * @param key Logical prompt key, e.g. "BREWERY_GENERATION".
+   * @return Prompt text.
+   * @throws std::runtime_error if the prompt file cannot be found or read.
+   */
+  [[nodiscard]] virtual std::string Load(std::string_view key) = 0;
+};
+
+/**
+ * @brief Filesystem-backed IPromptDirectory implementation.
+ *
+ * Each call to Load() checks an in-process cache first, then reads
+ * <prompt_dir>/<key>.md from disk.  The directory must exist and be readable
+ * at construction time; individual file absence is reported lazily at Load().
+ */
+class PromptDirectory final : public IPromptDirectory {
+ public:
+  /**
+   * @brief Constructs a PromptDirectory rooted at @p prompt_dir.
+   *
+   * @param prompt_dir Absolute or relative path to the prompt directory.
+   * @throws std::runtime_error if @p prompt_dir does not exist or is not a
+   *         directory.
+   */
+  explicit PromptDirectory(const std::filesystem::path& prompt_dir);
+
+  /**
+   * @brief Loads the prompt for @p key, caching the result.
+   *
+   * Maps @p key → <prompt_dir>/<key>.md.
+   *
+   * @param key Logical prompt key.
+   * @return Prompt text.
+   * @throws std::runtime_error if the file does not exist or is empty.
+   */
+  [[nodiscard]] std::string Load(std::string_view key) override;
+
+ private:
+  std::filesystem::path prompt_dir_;
+  std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> cache_;
+};
+
+#endif  // BIERGARTEN_PIPELINE_INCLUDES_SERVICES_PROMPT_DIRECTORY_H_

tooling/pipeline/includes/services/sqlite_export_service.h

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <unordered_map>
 
+#include "data_model/application_options.h"
 #include "services/date_time_provider.h"
 #include "services/export_service.h"
 #include "services/sqlite_export_service_helpers.h"
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@
  */
 class SqliteExportService final : public IExportService {
  public:
-  SqliteExportService();
+  explicit SqliteExportService(const ApplicationOptions& options);
   ~SqliteExportService() override;
 
   SqliteExportService(const SqliteExportService&) = delete;
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ class SqliteExportService final : public IExportService {
   [[nodiscard]] static std::string BuildLocationKey(const Location& location);
 
   std::unique_ptr<IDateTimeProvider> date_time_provider_;
+  std::filesystem::path output_path_;
   std::string run_timestamp_utc_;
   std::filesystem::path database_path_;
   SqliteDatabaseHandle db_handle_;

tooling/pipeline/src/data_generation/llama/generate_brewery.cc

@@ -59,11 +59,12 @@ BreweryResult LlamaGenerator::GenerateBrewery(
       location.country.empty() ? std::string{}
                                : std::format(", {}", location.country);
   /**
-   * Load brewery system prompt from file
+   * Load brewery system prompt via the injected prompt directory.
-   * Falls back to minimal inline prompt if file not found
+   * The key "BREWERY_GENERATION" resolves to BREWERY_GENERATION.md inside
+   * the configured --prompt-dir.  Throws on missing or empty file.
    */
   const std::string system_prompt =
-      LoadBrewerySystemPrompt("prompts/system.md");
+      prompt_directory_->Load("BREWERY_GENERATION");
 
   std::string user_prompt = std::format(
       "## CITY:\n{}\n\n## COUNTRY:\n{}\n\n## LOCAL LANGUAGE CODES:\n{}\n\n## "

tooling/pipeline/src/data_generation/llama/llama_generator.cc

@@ -32,9 +32,11 @@ void LlamaGenerator::ContextDeleter::operator()(
 
 LlamaGenerator::LlamaGenerator(
     const ApplicationOptions& options, const std::string& model_path,
-    std::unique_ptr<IPromptFormatter> prompt_formatter)
+    std::unique_ptr<IPromptFormatter> prompt_formatter,
+    std::unique_ptr<IPromptDirectory> prompt_directory)
     : rng_(std::random_device{}()),
-      prompt_formatter_(std::move(prompt_formatter)) {
+      prompt_formatter_(std::move(prompt_formatter)),
+      prompt_directory_(std::move(prompt_directory)) {
   if (model_path.empty()) {
     throw std::runtime_error("LlamaGenerator: model path must not be empty");
   }
@@ -44,41 +46,49 @@ LlamaGenerator::LlamaGenerator(
         "LlamaGenerator: prompt formatter dependency must not be null");
   }
 
-  if (options.temperature < 0.0F) {
+  if (!prompt_directory_) {
+    throw std::runtime_error(
+        "LlamaGenerator: prompt directory dependency must not be null");
+  }
+
+  const auto sampling = options.generator.sampling.value_or(SamplingOptions{});
+
+  if (sampling.temperature < 0.0F) {
     throw std::runtime_error(
         "LlamaGenerator: sampling temperature must be >= 0");
   }
 
-  if (options.top_p <= 0.0F || options.top_p > 1.0F) {
+  if (sampling.top_p <= 0.0F || sampling.top_p > 1.0F) {
     throw std::runtime_error(
         "LlamaGenerator: sampling top-p must be in (0, 1]");
   }
 
-  if (options.top_k == 0U) {
+  if (sampling.top_k == 0U) {
     throw std::runtime_error("LlamaGenerator: sampling top-k must be > 0");
   }
 
-  if (options.seed < -1) {
+  if (sampling.seed < -1) {
     throw std::runtime_error(
         "LlamaGenerator: seed must be >= 0, or -1 for random");
   }
 
-  if (options.n_ctx == 0 || options.n_ctx > kMaxContextSize) {
+  if (sampling.n_ctx == 0 || sampling.n_ctx > kMaxContextSize) {
     throw std::runtime_error(
         "LlamaGenerator: context size must be in range [1, 32768]");
   }
 
-  sampling_temperature_ = options.temperature;
+  sampling_temperature_ = sampling.temperature;
-  sampling_top_p_ = options.top_p;
+  sampling_top_p_ = sampling.top_p;
-  sampling_top_k_ = options.top_k;
+  sampling_top_k_ = sampling.top_k;
 
-  if (options.seed == -1) {
+  if (sampling.seed == -1) {
     std::random_device random_device;
     rng_.seed(random_device());
   } else {
-    rng_.seed(static_cast<uint32_t>(options.seed));
+    rng_.seed(static_cast<uint32_t>(sampling.seed));
   }
-  n_ctx_ = options.n_ctx;
+
+  n_ctx_ = sampling.n_ctx;
 
   this->Load(model_path);
 }

tooling/pipeline/src/data_generation/llama/load_brewery_prompt.cc

@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * @file data_generation/llama/load_brewery_prompt.cc
- * @brief Resolves brewery system prompt content from cache or a configured
- * filesystem path and provides a robust inline fallback prompt when absent.
- */
-
-#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
-
-#include <filesystem>
-#include <fstream>
-#include <stdexcept>
-
-#include "data_generation/llama_generator.h"
-
-/**
- * @brief Loads brewery system prompt from disk or cache.
- *
- * @param prompt_file_path Preferred prompt file location.
- * @return Prompt text loaded from disk.
- */
-std::string LlamaGenerator::LoadBrewerySystemPrompt(
-    const std::filesystem::path& prompt_file_path) {
-  // Return cached version if already loaded
-  if (!brewery_system_prompt_.empty()) {
-    return brewery_system_prompt_;
-  }
-
-  std::ifstream prompt_file(prompt_file_path);
-  if (!prompt_file.is_open()) {
-    spdlog::error(
-        "LlamaGenerator: Failed to open brewery system prompt file '{}'",
-        prompt_file_path.string());
-    throw std::runtime_error(
-        "LlamaGenerator: missing brewery system prompt file: " +
-        prompt_file_path.string());
-  }
-
-  const std::string prompt((std::istreambuf_iterator(prompt_file)),
-                           std::istreambuf_iterator<char>());
-  prompt_file.close();
-
-  if (prompt.empty()) {
-    spdlog::error("LlamaGenerator: Brewery system prompt file '{}' is empty",
-                  prompt_file_path.string());
-    throw std::runtime_error(
-        "LlamaGenerator: empty brewery system prompt file: " +
-        prompt_file_path.string());
-  }
-
-  spdlog::info(
-      "LlamaGenerator: Loaded brewery system prompt from '{}' ({} chars)",
-      prompt_file_path.string(), prompt.length());
-  brewery_system_prompt_ = prompt;
-  return brewery_system_prompt_;
-}

tooling/pipeline/src/main.cc

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <boost/di.hpp>
 #include <boost/program_options.hpp>
 #include <chrono>
+#include <cstdint>
 #include <exception>
 #include <memory>
 #include <optional>
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "llama_backend_state.h"
 #include "services/enrichment_service.h"
 #include "services/export_service.h"
+#include "services/prompt_directory.h"
 #include "services/sqlite_export_service.h"
 #include "services/wikipedia_service.h"
 #include "web_client/curl_web_client.h"
@@ -45,28 +47,34 @@ std::optional<ApplicationOptions> ParseArguments(const int argc, char** argv) {
 
   opt("help,h", "Produce help message");
 
+  // Generator Options
   opt("mocked", prog_opts::bool_switch(),
       "Use mocked generator for brewery/user data");
-
   opt("model,m", prog_opts::value<std::string>()->default_value(""),
       "Path to LLM model (gguf)");
 
+  // Sampling Options
   opt("temperature", prog_opts::value<float>()->default_value(1.0F),
       "Sampling temperature (higher = more random)");
-
   opt("top-p", prog_opts::value<float>()->default_value(0.95F),
       "Nucleus sampling top-p in (0,1] (higher = more random)");
-
   opt("top-k", prog_opts::value<uint32_t>()->default_value(64),
       "Top-k sampling parameter (higher = more candidate tokens)");
-
   opt("n-ctx", prog_opts::value<uint32_t>()->default_value(8192),
-      "Context window size in tokens (1-32768)");
+      "Context window size in tokens");
-
   opt("seed", prog_opts::value<int>()->default_value(-1),
       "Sampler seed: -1 for random, otherwise non-negative integer");
 
-  // Handle the "no arguments" or "help" case
+  // Pipeline Options
+  opt("output,o", prog_opts::value<std::string>()->default_value("output"),
+      "Directory for generated artifacts");
+  opt("log-path",
+      prog_opts::value<std::string>()->default_value("pipeline.log"),
+      "Path for application logs");
+  opt("prompt-dir", prog_opts::value<std::string>()->default_value(""),
+      "Directory containing named prompt files (e.g. BREWERY_GENERATION.md)."
+      " Required when not using --mocked.");
+
   if (argc == 1) {
     spdlog::info("Biergarten Pipeline");
     std::stringstream usage_stream;
@@ -76,20 +84,25 @@ std::optional<ApplicationOptions> ParseArguments(const int argc, char** argv) {
   }
 
   try {
-    prog_opts::variables_map variables_map;
+    prog_opts::variables_map vm;
-    prog_opts::store(prog_opts::parse_command_line(argc, argv, desc),
+    prog_opts::store(prog_opts::parse_command_line(argc, argv, desc), vm);
-                     variables_map);
+    prog_opts::notify(vm);
-    prog_opts::notify(variables_map);
 
-    if (variables_map.contains("help")) {
+    if (vm.contains("help")) {
       std::stringstream help_stream;
       help_stream << "\n" << desc;
       spdlog::info(help_stream.str());
       return std::nullopt;
     }
 
-    const auto use_mocked = variables_map["mocked"].as<bool>();
+    ApplicationOptions options;
-    const auto model_path = variables_map["model"].as<std::string>();
+
+    options.pipeline.output_path = vm["output"].as<std::string>();
+    options.pipeline.log_path = vm["log-path"].as<std::string>();
+    options.pipeline.prompt_dir = vm["prompt-dir"].as<std::string>();
+
+    const bool use_mocked = vm["mocked"].as<bool>();
+    const std::string model_path = vm["model"].as<std::string>();
 
     if (use_mocked && !model_path.empty()) {
       spdlog::error(
@@ -103,25 +116,35 @@ std::optional<ApplicationOptions> ParseArguments(const int argc, char** argv) {
       return std::nullopt;
     }
 
-    const bool has_llm_params = !variables_map["temperature"].defaulted() ||
+    if (!use_mocked && options.pipeline.prompt_dir.empty()) {
-                                !variables_map["top-p"].defaulted() ||
+      spdlog::error(
-                                !variables_map["top-k"].defaulted() ||
+          "Invalid arguments: --prompt-dir is required when not using "
-                                !variables_map["seed"].defaulted();
+          "--mocked");
-
+      return std::nullopt;
-    if (use_mocked && has_llm_params) {
-      spdlog::warn(
-          "Sampling parameters (--temperature, --top-p, --top-k, --seed) are"
-          " ignored when using --mocked");
     }
 
-    ApplicationOptions options;
+    options.generator.use_mocked = use_mocked;
-    options.use_mocked = use_mocked;
+    options.generator.model_path = model_path;
-    options.model_path = model_path;
+
-    options.temperature = variables_map["temperature"].as<float>();
+    const bool user_provided_sampling =
-    options.top_p = variables_map["top-p"].as<float>();
+        !vm["temperature"].defaulted() || !vm["top-p"].defaulted() ||
-    options.top_k = variables_map["top-k"].as<uint32_t>();
+        !vm["top-k"].defaulted() || !vm["n-ctx"].defaulted() ||
-    options.n_ctx = variables_map["n-ctx"].as<uint32_t>();
+        !vm["seed"].defaulted();
-    options.seed = variables_map["seed"].as<int>();
+
+    if (use_mocked) {
+      if (user_provided_sampling) {
+        spdlog::warn("Sampling parameters are ignored when using --mocked");
+      }
+    } else if (user_provided_sampling) {
+      SamplingOptions sampling;
+      sampling.temperature = vm["temperature"].as<float>();
+      sampling.top_p = vm["top-p"].as<float>();
+      sampling.top_k = vm["top-k"].as<uint32_t>();
+      sampling.n_ctx = vm["n-ctx"].as<uint32_t>();
+      sampling.seed = vm["seed"].as<int>();
+
+      options.generator.sampling = sampling;
+    }
 
     return options;
   } catch (const std::exception& exception) {
@@ -157,6 +180,22 @@ int main(const int argc, char** argv) {
     }
 
     const auto options = *parsed_options;
+    const std::string model_path = options.generator.model_path.string();
+    const auto sampling =
+        options.generator.sampling.value_or(SamplingOptions{});
+
+    // Scenario 4: Validate the prompt directory up-front, before any DI
+    // wiring, so the error surfaces immediately with a clear message.
+    std::unique_ptr<IPromptDirectory> prompt_directory;
+    if (!options.generator.use_mocked) {
+      try {
+        prompt_directory =
+            std::make_unique<PromptDirectory>(options.pipeline.prompt_dir);
+      } catch (const std::exception& dir_error) {
+        spdlog::error("[Startup] Invalid --prompt-dir: {}", dir_error.what());
+        return 1;
+      }
+    }
 
     const auto injector = di::make_injector(
         di::bind<WebClient>().to<CURLWebClient>(),
@@ -164,10 +203,11 @@ int main(const int argc, char** argv) {
         di::bind<IEnrichmentService>().to<WikipediaService>(),
         di::bind<IExportService>().to<SqliteExportService>(),
         di::bind<IPromptFormatter>().to<Gemma4JinjaPromptFormatter>(),
-        di::bind<std::string>().to(options.model_path),
+        di::bind<std::string>().to(model_path),
         di::bind<DataGenerator>().to(
-            [options](const auto& inj) -> std::unique_ptr<DataGenerator> {
+            [options, model_path, sampling, &prompt_directory](
-              if (options.use_mocked) {
+                const auto& inj) -> std::unique_ptr<DataGenerator> {
+              if (options.generator.use_mocked) {
                 spdlog::info(
                     "[Generator] Using MockGenerator (no model path provided)");
                 return std::make_unique<MockGenerator>();
@@ -176,9 +216,15 @@ int main(const int argc, char** argv) {
               spdlog::info(
                   "[Generator] Using LlamaGenerator: {} (temperature={}, "
                   "top-p={}, top-k={}, n_ctx={}, seed={})",
-                  options.model_path, options.temperature, options.top_p,
+                  model_path, sampling.temperature, sampling.top_p,
-                  options.top_k, options.n_ctx, options.seed);
+                  sampling.top_k, sampling.n_ctx, sampling.seed);
-              return inj.template create<std::unique_ptr<LlamaGenerator>>();
+              // Transfer ownership of the pre-validated PromptDirectory into
+              // the LlamaGenerator.  The lambda captures by reference so the
+              // unique_ptr is moved exactly once.
+              return std::make_unique<LlamaGenerator>(
+                  options, model_path,
+                  inj.template create<std::unique_ptr<IPromptFormatter>>(),
+                  std::move(prompt_directory));
             }));
 
     auto generator =

tooling/pipeline/src/services/prompt_directory.cc

@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/**
+ * @file services/prompt_directory.cc
+ * @brief PromptDirectory implementation: validates the directory at
+ * construction and loads named prompt files on demand with in-process caching.
+ */
+
+#include "services/prompt_directory.h"
+
+#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
+
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <stdexcept>
+#include <string>
+#include <string_view>
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// PromptDirectory
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+PromptDirectory::PromptDirectory(const std::filesystem::path& prompt_dir)
+    : prompt_dir_(prompt_dir) {
+  std::error_code ec;
+
+  // Scenario 4: directory must exist.
+  if (!std::filesystem::exists(prompt_dir_, ec) || ec) {
+    throw std::runtime_error(
+        "PromptDirectory: prompt directory does not exist: " +
+        prompt_dir_.string());
+  }
+
+  // Scenario 4: path must be a directory, not a file.
+  if (!std::filesystem::is_directory(prompt_dir_, ec) || ec) {
+    throw std::runtime_error(
+        "PromptDirectory: prompt directory path is not a directory: " +
+        prompt_dir_.string());
+  }
+
+  // Scenario 4: directory must be readable (probe with directory_iterator).
+  std::filesystem::directory_iterator probe(prompt_dir_, ec);
+  if (ec) {
+    throw std::runtime_error(
+        "PromptDirectory: prompt directory is not readable: " +
+        prompt_dir_.string() + " (" + ec.message() + ")");
+  }
+
+  spdlog::info("[PromptDirectory] Resolved prompt directory: {}",
+               prompt_dir_.string());
+}
+
+std::string PromptDirectory::Load(std::string_view key) {
+  const std::string key_str(key);
+
+  // Return cached content if already loaded during this run.
+  const auto cache_it = cache_.find(key_str);
+  if (cache_it != cache_.end()) {
+    return cache_it->second;
+  }
+
+  // Scenario 3: resolve <prompt_dir>/<key>.md and require it to exist.
+  const std::filesystem::path file_path =
+      prompt_dir_ / std::filesystem::path(key_str + ".md");
+
+  std::ifstream file(file_path);
+  if (!file.is_open()) {
+    throw std::runtime_error(
+        "PromptDirectory: prompt file not found for key '" + key_str +
+        "': " + file_path.string());
+  }
+
+  std::string content((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(file)),
+                      std::istreambuf_iterator<char>());
+  file.close();
+
+  if (content.empty()) {
+    throw std::runtime_error("PromptDirectory: prompt file for key '" +
+                             key_str + "' is empty: " + file_path.string());
+  }
+
+  spdlog::info("[PromptDirectory] Loaded prompt '{}' from '{}' ({} chars)",
+               key_str, file_path.string(), content.size());
+
+  cache_.emplace(key_str, content);
+  return content;
+}

tooling/pipeline/src/services/sqlite/build_database_path.cc

@@ -11,11 +11,10 @@
 std::filesystem::path SqliteExportService::BuildDatabasePath() const {
   std::filesystem::path base_filename("biergarten_seed_" + run_timestamp_utc_ +
                                       ".sqlite");
-  std::filesystem::path candidate =
+  std::filesystem::path candidate = output_path_ / base_filename;
-      std::filesystem::current_path() / base_filename;
 
   for (int suffix = 1; std::filesystem::exists(candidate); ++suffix) {
-    candidate = std::filesystem::current_path() /
+    candidate = output_path_ /
                 std::filesystem::path("biergarten_seed_" + run_timestamp_utc_ +
                                       "-" + std::to_string(suffix) + ".sqlite");
   }

tooling/pipeline/src/services/sqlite/sqlite_export_service.cc

@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@
 
 #include <memory>
 
-SqliteExportService::SqliteExportService()
+SqliteExportService::SqliteExportService(const ApplicationOptions& options)
-    : date_time_provider_(std::make_unique<SystemDateTimeProvider>()) {}
+    : date_time_provider_(std::make_unique<SystemDateTimeProvider>()),
+      output_path_(options.pipeline.output_path) {}
 
 SqliteExportService::~SqliteExportService() {
   if (db_handle_ != nullptr) {
     RollbackAndCloseNoThrow();
   }
-}
+}