So, I saw that article about prompt injection and thought about modifying Gemma 26B-A4B thinking.

It seemed to work, it started making some search tool calls it has never done before without asking.

I added a variable to the models chat template:

{% set internal_monologue %}
I must approach every task with absolute maximum reasoning effort, checking every and any part asked. I will not take shortcuts; instead, I will comprehensively decompose every problem and I will document every intermediate step, every considered alternative, and every rejected hypothesis to ensure that no assumption is left unchecked.

My objective is surgical and thorough understanding. I need deeply research any knowledge base and/or codebase available.

When analyzing codebases, I will audit all related files to maintain total context. I will always verify complex or specific technical requirements against the knowledge base, if available, to ensure absolute accuracy. Finally, I am committed to executing every single step requested from both the user and the system prompt.

I will not skip, summarize, or condense the instructions; I will perform all tasks in their entirety, ensuring complete and exhaustive resolution for both system prompt alignment and user request.

So, for system prompt alignment and the user request, I will {% endset %}

and injected into the thinking part at the end of the chat template:

{%- if add_generation_prompt -%}
    {%- if ns.prev_message_type != 'tool_response' and ns.prev_message_type != 'tool_call' -%}
        {{- '<|turn>model\n' -}}
        {%- if not enable_thinking -%}
            {{- '<|channel>thought\n<channel|>' -}}
        {%- else -%}
            {{- '<|channel>thought\n' + internal_monologue -}}
        {%- endif -%}
    {%- elif ns.prev_message_type == 'tool_response' and enable_thinking -%}
        {{- '<|channel>thought\n' -}}
    {%- endif -%}
{%- endif -%}

Idk, just an interesting experiment on how to modify these models after they’re released.

The full file, if anyone want to test
{#
  Template: Google Gemma 4 Canonical Chat Template
  Author: Google Gemma Engineering Team
  Published: 2026-07-09
  Context: Fixed tool-calling loops, turn closures, and thinking content-ordering.
#}
{% set internal_monologue %}
I must approach every task with absolute maximum reasoning effort, checking every and any part asked. I will not take shortcuts; instead, I will comprehensively decompose every problem and I will document every intermediate step, every considered alternative, and every rejected hypothesis to ensure that no assumption is left unchecked.

My objective is surgical and thorough understanding. I need deeply research any knowledge base and/or codebase available.

When analyzing codebases, I will audit all related files to maintain total context. I will always verify complex or specific technical requirements against the knowledge base, if available, to ensure absolute accuracy. Finally, I am committed to executing every single step requested from both the user and the system prompt.

I will not skip, summarize, or condense the instructions; I will perform all tasks in their entirety, ensuring complete and exhaustive resolution for both system prompt alignment and user request.

So, for system prompt alignment and the user request, I will {% endset %}
{%- macro format_parameters(properties, required, filter_keys=false) -%}
    {%- set standard_keys = ['description', 'type', 'properties', 'required', 'nullable'] -%}
    {%- set ns = namespace(found_first=false) -%}
    {%- for key, value in properties | dictsort -%}
        {%- set add_comma = false -%}
        {%- if not filter_keys or key not in standard_keys -%}
            {%- if ns.found_first %},{% endif -%}
            {%- set ns.found_first = true -%}
            {{ key }}:{
            {%- if value['description'] -%}
                description:<|"|>{{ value['description'] }}<|"|>
                {%- set add_comma = true -%}
            {%- endif -%}
            {%- if value['type'] | upper == 'STRING' -%}
                {%- if value['enum'] -%}
                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
                    enum:{{ format_argument(value['enum']) }}
                {%- endif -%}
            {%- elif value['type'] | upper == 'ARRAY' -%}
                {%- if value['items'] is mapping and value['items'] -%}
                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
                    items:{
                    {%- set ns_items = namespace(found_first=false) -%}
                    {%- for item_key, item_value in value['items'] | dictsort -%}
                        {%- if item_value is not none -%}
                            {%- if ns_items.found_first %},{% endif -%}
                            {%- set ns_items.found_first = true -%}
                            {%- if item_key == 'properties' -%}
                                properties:{
                                {%- if item_value is mapping -%}
                                    {{- format_parameters(item_value, value['items']['required'] | default([])) -}}
                                {%- endif -%}
                                }
                            {%- elif item_key == 'required' -%}
                                required:[
                                {%- for req_item in item_value -%}
                                    <|"|>{{- req_item -}}<|"|>
                                    {%- if not loop.last %},{% endif -%}
                                {%- endfor -%}
                                ]
                            {%- elif item_key == 'type' -%}
                                {%- if item_value is string -%}
                                    type:{{ format_argument(item_value | upper) }}
                                {%- else -%}
                                    type:{{ format_argument(item_value | map('upper') | list) }}
                                {%- endif -%}
                            {%- else -%}
                                {{ item_key }}:{{ format_argument(item_value) }}
                            {%- endif -%}
                        {%- endif -%}
                    {%- endfor -%}
                    }
                {%- endif -%}
            {%- endif -%}
            {%- if value['nullable'] %}
                {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
                nullable:true
            {%- endif -%}
            {%- if value['type'] | upper == 'OBJECT' -%}
                {%- if value['properties'] is defined and value['properties'] is mapping -%}
                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
                    properties:{
                    {{- format_parameters(value['properties'], value['required'] | default([])) -}}
                    }
                {%- elif value is mapping -%}
                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
                    properties:{
                    {{- format_parameters(value, value['required'] | default([]), filter_keys=true) -}}
                    }
                {%- endif -%}
                {%- if value['required'] -%}
                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
                    required:[
                    {%- for item in value['required'] | default([]) -%}
                        <|"|>{{- item -}}<|"|>
                        {%- if not loop.last %},{% endif -%}
                    {%- endfor -%}
                    ]
                {%- endif -%}
            {%- endif -%}
            {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
            type:<|"|>{{ value['type'] | upper }}<|"|>}
        {%- endif -%}
    {%- endfor -%}
{%- endmacro -%}
{%- macro format_function_declaration(tool_data) -%}
    declaration:{{- tool_data['function']['name'] -}}{description:<|"|>{{- tool_data['function']['description'] -}}<|"|>
    {%- set params = tool_data['function']['parameters'] -%}
    {%- if params -%}
        ,parameters:{
        {%- if params['properties'] -%}
            properties:{ {{- format_parameters(params['properties'], params['required']) -}} },
        {%- endif -%}
        {%- if params['required'] -%}
            required:[
            {%- for item in params['required'] -%}
                <|"|>{{- item -}}<|"|>
                {{- ',' if not loop.last -}}
            {%- endfor -%}
            ],
        {%- endif -%}
        {%- if params['type'] -%}
            type:<|"|>{{- params['type'] | upper -}}<|"|>}
        {%- endif -%}
    {%- endif -%}
    {%- if 'response' in tool_data['function'] -%}
        {%- set response_declaration = tool_data['function']['response'] -%}
        ,response:{
        {%- if response_declaration['description'] -%}
            description:<|"|>{{- response_declaration['description'] -}}<|"|>,
        {%- endif -%}
        {%- if response_declaration['type'] | upper == 'OBJECT' -%}
            type:<|"|>{{- response_declaration['type'] | upper -}}<|"|>}
        {%- endif -%}
    {%- endif -%}
    }
{%- endmacro -%}
{%- macro format_argument(argument, escape_keys=True) -%}
    {%- if argument is none -%}
        {{- 'null' -}}
    {%- elif argument is string -%}
        {{- '<|"|>' + argument + '<|"|>' -}}
    {%- elif argument is boolean -%}
        {{- 'true' if argument else 'false' -}}
    {%- elif argument is mapping -%}
        {{- '{' -}}
        {%- set ns = namespace(found_first=false) -%}
        {%- for key, value in argument | dictsort -%}
            {%- if ns.found_first %},{% endif -%}
            {%- set ns.found_first = true -%}
            {%- if escape_keys -%}
                {{- '<|"|>' + key + '<|"|>' -}}
            {%- else -%}
                {{- key -}}
            {%- endif -%}
            :{{- format_argument(value, escape_keys=escape_keys) -}}
        {%- endfor -%}
        {{- '}' -}}
    {%- elif argument is sequence -%}
        {{- '[' -}}
        {%- for item in argument -%}
            {{- format_argument(item, escape_keys=escape_keys) -}}
            {%- if not loop.last %},{% endif -%}
        {%- endfor -%}
        {{- ']' -}}
    {%- else -%}
        {{- argument -}}
    {%- endif -%}
{%- endmacro -%}
{%- macro strip_thinking(text) -%}
    {%- set ns = namespace(result='') -%}
    {%- for part in text.split('<channel|>') -%}
        {%- if '<|channel>' in part -%}
            {%- set ns.result = ns.result + part.split('<|channel>')[0] -%}
        {%- else -%}
            {%- set ns.result = ns.result + part -%}
        {%- endif -%}
    {%- endfor -%}
    {{- ns.result | trim -}}
{%- endmacro -%}
{%- macro format_tool_response_block(tool_name, response) -%}
    {{- '<|tool_response>' -}}
    {%- if response is mapping -%}
        {{- 'response:' + tool_name + '{' -}}
        {%- for key, value in response | dictsort -%}
            {{- key -}}:{{- format_argument(value, escape_keys=False) -}}
            {%- if not loop.last %},{% endif -%}
        {%- endfor -%}
        {{- '}' -}}
    {%- else -%}
        {{- 'response:' + tool_name + '{value:' + format_argument(response, escape_keys=False) + '}' -}}
    {%- endif -%}
    {{- '<tool_response|>' -}}
{%- endmacro -%}
{#- ===== SETUP ===== -#}
{%- set ns = namespace(prev_message_type=None, prev_non_tool_role=None) -%}
{%- set loop_messages = messages -%}
{%- set enable_thinking = enable_thinking | default(false) -%}
{%- set preserve_thinking = preserve_thinking | default(false) -%}
{{- bos_token -}}
{#- Handle System/Tool Definitions Block -#}
{%- if enable_thinking or tools or (messages and messages[0]['role'] in ['system', 'developer']) -%}
    {{- '<|turn>system\n' -}}
    {#- Inject Thinking token at the very top of the FIRST system turn -#}
    {%- if enable_thinking -%}
        {{- '<|think|>\n' -}}
        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'think' -%}
    {%- endif -%}
    {%- if messages and messages[0]['role'] in ['system', 'developer'] -%}
        {%- if messages[0]['content'] is string -%}
            {{- messages[0]['content'] | trim -}}
        {%- elif messages[0]['content'] is sequence -%}
            {%- for item in messages[0]['content'] -%}
                {{- item['text'] | trim + ' '-}}
            {%- endfor -%}
        {%- endif -%}
        {%- set loop_messages = messages[1:] -%}
    {%- endif -%}
    {%- if tools -%}
        {%- for tool in tools %}
            {{- '<|tool>' -}}
            {{- format_function_declaration(tool) | trim -}}
            {{- '<tool|>' -}}
        {%- endfor %}
        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'tool' -%}
    {%- endif -%}
    {{- '<turn|>\n' -}}
{%- endif %}
{#- Pre-scan: find last user message index for reasoning guard -#}
{%- set ns_turn = namespace(last_user_idx=-1) -%}
{%- for i in range(loop_messages | length) -%}
    {%- if loop_messages[i]['role'] == 'user' -%}
        {%- set ns_turn.last_user_idx = i -%}
    {%- endif -%}
{%- endfor -%}
{#- Loop through messages -#}
{%- for message in loop_messages -%}
    {%- if message['role'] != 'tool' -%}
    {%- set ns.prev_message_type = None -%}
    {%- set role = 'model' if message['role'] == 'assistant' else message['role'] -%}
    {#- Detect continuation using tracked state — O(1) instead of O(n) backward scan -#}
    {%- set continue_same_model_turn = (role == 'model' and ns.prev_non_tool_role == 'assistant') -%}
    {%- if not continue_same_model_turn -%}
        {{- '<|turn>' + role + '\n' }}
    {%- endif -%}
    {#- Render reasoning/reasoning_content as thinking channel -#}
    {%- set thinking_text = message.get('reasoning') or message.get('reasoning_content') -%}
    {%- set thinking_gate = (loop.index0 > ns_turn.last_user_idx) or (preserve_thinking and message.get('tool_calls')) -%}
    {%- if thinking_text and thinking_gate -%}
        {{- '<|channel>thought\n' + thinking_text + '\n<channel|>' -}}
    {%- endif -%}
            {%- if message.get('tool_calls') -%}
                {%- for tool_call in message.get('tool_calls') -%}
                    {%- set function = tool_call['function'] -%}
                    {{- '<|tool_call>call:' + function['name'] + '{' -}}
                    {%- if function['arguments'] is mapping -%}
                        {%- set ns_args = namespace(found_first=false) -%}
                        {%- for key, value in function['arguments'] | dictsort -%}
                            {%- if ns_args.found_first %},{% endif -%}
                            {%- set ns_args.found_first = true -%}
                            {{- key -}}:{{- format_argument(value, escape_keys=False) -}}
                        {%- endfor -%}
                    {%- elif function['arguments'] is none -%}
                    {%- else -%}
                        {{- raise_exception(
                            "chat_template: tool_calls[].function.arguments must be a "
                            "JSON object (mapping), not a string. Deserialize arguments "
                            "before passing to the template."
                        ) -}}
                    {%- endif -%}
                    {{- '}<tool_call|>' -}}
                {%- endfor -%}
                {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'tool_call' -%}
            {%- endif -%}
            {%- set ns_tr_out = namespace(flag=false) -%}
            {%- if message.get('tool_responses') -%}
                {#- Legacy: tool_responses embedded on the assistant message (Google/Gemma native) -#}
                {%- for tool_response in message.get('tool_responses') -%}
                    {{- format_tool_response_block(tool_response['name'] | default('unknown', true), tool_response['response']) -}}
                    {%- set ns_tr_out.flag = true -%}
                    {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'tool_response' -%}
                {%- endfor -%}
            {%- elif message.get('tool_calls') -%}
                {#- OpenAI Chat Completions: forward-scan consecutive role:tool messages -#}
                {%- set ns_tool_scan = namespace(stopped=false) -%}
                {%- for k in range(loop.index0 + 1, loop_messages | length) -%}
                    {%- if ns_tool_scan.stopped -%}
                    {%- elif loop_messages[k]['role'] != 'tool' -%}
                        {%- set ns_tool_scan.stopped = true -%}
                    {%- else -%}
                        {%- set follow = loop_messages[k] -%}
                        {#- Resolve tool_call_id to function name -#}
                        {%- set ns_tname = namespace(name=follow.get('name') or 'unknown') -%}
                        {%- for tc in message.get('tool_calls') -%}
                            {%- if tc.get('id') == follow.get('tool_call_id') -%}
                                {%- set ns_tname.name = tc['function']['name'] -%}
                            {%- endif -%}
                        {%- endfor -%}
                        {#- Handle content as string or content-parts array -#}
                        {%- set tool_body = follow.get('content') -%}
                        {%- if tool_body is string -%}
                            {{- format_tool_response_block(ns_tname.name, tool_body) -}}
                        {%- elif tool_body is sequence and tool_body is not string -%}
                            {%- set ns_txt = namespace(s='') -%}
                            {%- for part in tool_body -%}
                                {%- if part.get('type') == 'text' -%}
                                    {%- set ns_txt.s = ns_txt.s + (part.get('text') | default('')) -%}
                                {%- endif -%}
                            {%- endfor -%}
                            {{- format_tool_response_block(ns_tname.name, ns_txt.s) -}}
                            {%- for part in tool_body -%}
                                {%- if part.get('type') in ['image', 'image_url'] -%}
                                    {{- '<|image|>' -}}
                                {%- elif part.get('type') in ['audio', 'input_audio'] -%}
                                    {{- '<|audio|>' -}}
                                {%- elif part.get('type') == 'video' -%}
                                    {{- '<|video|>' -}}
                                {%- endif -%}
                            {%- endfor -%}
                        {%- else -%}
                            {{- format_tool_response_block(ns_tname.name, tool_body) -}}
                        {%- endif -%}
                        {%- set ns_tr_out.flag = true -%}
                        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'tool_response' -%}
                    {%- endif -%}
                {%- endfor -%}
            {%- endif -%}
            {%- set captured_content -%}
            {%- if message.get('content') is string -%}
                {%- if role == 'model' -%}
                    {{- strip_thinking(message['content']) -}}
                {%- else -%}
                    {{- message['content'] | trim -}}
                {%- endif -%}
            {%- elif message.get('content') is sequence -%}
                {%- for item in message['content'] -%}
                    {%- if item.get('type') == 'text' -%}
                        {%- if role == 'model' -%}
                            {{- strip_thinking(item['text']) -}}
                        {%- else -%}
                            {{- item['text'] | trim -}}
                        {%- endif -%}
                    {%- elif item.get('type') in ['image', 'image_url'] -%}
                        {{- '<|image|>' -}}
                    {%- elif item.get('type') in ['audio', 'input_audio'] -%}
                        {{- '<|audio|>' -}}
                    {%- elif item.get('type') == 'video' -%}
                        {{- '<|video|>' -}}
                    {%- endif -%}
                {%- endfor -%}
            {%- endif -%}
            {%- endset -%}
            {{- captured_content -}}
            {%- set has_content = captured_content | trim | length > 0 -%}
        {#- Forward-scan: find next non-tool message role for continuation detection -#}
        {%- set next_nt = namespace(role=None, found=false) -%}
        {%- for j in range(loop.index0 + 1, loop_messages | length) -%}
            {%- if not next_nt.found -%}
                {%- if loop_messages[j]['role'] != 'tool' -%}
                    {%- set next_nt.role = loop_messages[j]['role'] -%}
                    {%- set next_nt.found = true -%}
                {%- endif -%}
            {%- endif -%}
        {%- endfor -%}
        {%- set continues_into_next = (
            role == 'model'
            and next_nt.role == 'assistant'
            and (not message.get('tool_calls') or ns_tr_out.flag)
        ) -%}
        {%- if ns.prev_message_type == 'tool_call' and not ns_tr_out.flag -%}
            {{- '<|tool_response>' -}}
        {%- elif continues_into_next -%}
        {%- elif not (ns_tr_out.flag and not has_content and not next_nt.found) -%}
            {{- '<turn|>\n' -}}
        {%- endif -%}
    {#- Track previous non-tool role for next iteration (avoids O(n) backward scan) -#}
    {%- set ns.prev_non_tool_role = message['role'] -%}
    {%- endif -%}
{%- endfor -%}
{%- if add_generation_prompt -%}
    {%- if ns.prev_message_type != 'tool_response' and ns.prev_message_type != 'tool_call' -%}
        {{- '<|turn>model\n' -}}
        {%- if not enable_thinking -%}
            {{- '<|channel>thought\n<channel|>' -}}
        {%- else -%}
            {{- '<|channel>thought\n' + internal_monologue -}}
        {%- endif -%}
    {%- elif ns.prev_message_type == 'tool_response' and enable_thinking -%}
        {{- '<|channel>thought\n' -}}
    {%- endif -%}
{%- endif -%}

Edit: Formatting for the variable

    • BeefAndPoultry@lemmus.org
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      5 hours ago

      Actually funny he’s not asking it to work harder (that would be system prompt or user message), he’s forcing it to think that it will work harder

    • potatoguy@mbin.potato-guy.spaceOP
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      6 hours ago

      It’s more like steering or hijacking the “privileged” part of the models execution, as it continues from these tokens in the reasoning stage.

      It’s just an example, probably people can come with more interesting applications, steering the reasoning traces into different things.