diff --git a/extensions/void/src/common/getRules.ts b/extensions/void/src/common/getRules.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0a7ef6c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/void/src/common/getRules.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { awaitVSCodeResponse, getVSCodeAPI } from '../sidebar/getVscodeApi';
+
+export async function getRules() {
+	try {
+		getVSCodeAPI().postMessage({ type: 'getRules', rules: '' })
+		const rules = await awaitVSCodeResponse('getRules')
+		return rules.rules
+	} catch (error) {
+		console.error('Error reading .voidrules file:', error);
+		throw error;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts b/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
index 479a61d3..dcab0eaf 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
+++ b/extensions/void/src/common/sendLLMMessage.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { createOpenAI, OpenAIProviderSettings } from '@ai-sdk/openai';
 import { AnthropicProviderSettings, createAnthropic } from '@ai-sdk/anthropic';
 import { AzureOpenAIProviderSettings, createAzure } from '@ai-sdk/azure';
 import { createOllama, OllamaProviderSettings } from 'ollama-ai-provider';
+import { getRules } from './getRules';
 
 export type ApiConfig = {
 	/** @default 'anthropic' */
@@ -142,24 +143,29 @@ const sendGreptileMsg: SendLLMMessageFnTypeInternal = ({ messages, onText, onFin
 export const sendLLMMessage: SendLLMMessageFnTypeExternal = ({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, apiConfig }) => {
 	if (!apiConfig) return { abort: () => { } }
 	const provider = apiConfig.provider
-	// TODO: create an @ai-sdk provider for greptile
+	// TODO: create an @ai-sdk provider for greptile,
 	if (provider === 'greptile')
 		return sendGreptileMsg({ messages, onText, onFinalMessage, apiConfig })
 
 	const model = getAiModel(apiConfig)
+
 	const abortController = new AbortController()
 	const abortSignal = abortController.signal
-	streamText({
-		model,
-		messages,
-		abortSignal,
-	}).then(async (result) => {
-		let fullText = ''
-		for await (const textPart of result.textStream) {
-			fullText += textPart
-			onText(textPart, fullText)
-		}
-		onFinalMessage(fullText)
+
+	getRules().then(rules => {
+		streamText({
+			model,
+			system: rules || '',
+			messages,
+			abortSignal,
+		}).then(async (result) => {
+			let fullText = ''
+			for await (const textPart of result.textStream) {
+				fullText += textPart
+				onText(textPart, fullText)
+			}
+			onFinalMessage(fullText)
+		})
 	})
 
 	return { abort: abortController.abort }
@@ -167,20 +173,28 @@ export const sendLLMMessage: SendLLMMessageFnTypeExternal = ({ messages, onText,
 
 export const getAiModel = (apiConfig: ApiConfig) => {
 	switch (apiConfig.provider) {
-		case 'openai': return createOpenAI({
-			...apiConfig.openai.providerSettings,
-			apiKey: apiConfig.openai.apiKey,
-		})(apiConfig.openai.model || 'gpt-4o')
-		case 'anthropic': return createAnthropic({
-			...apiConfig.anthropic.providerSettings,
-			apiKey: apiConfig.anthropic.apiKey,
-		})(apiConfig.anthropic.model || 'claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620')
-		case 'ollama': return createOllama(apiConfig.ollama.providerSettings)(apiConfig.ollama.model || 'llama3.1')
-		case 'azure': return createAzure({
-			...apiConfig.azure.providerSettings,
-			apiKey: apiConfig.azure.apiKey,
-			resourceName: apiConfig.azure.resourceName,
-		})(`${apiConfig.azure.deploymentId}`)
+		case 'openai':
+			return createOpenAI({
+				...apiConfig.openai.providerSettings,
+				apiKey: apiConfig.openai.apiKey,
+			})(apiConfig.openai.model || 'gpt-4o')
+
+		case 'anthropic':
+			return createAnthropic({
+				...apiConfig.anthropic.providerSettings,
+				apiKey: apiConfig.anthropic.apiKey,
+			})(apiConfig.anthropic.model || 'claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620')
+
+		case 'ollama':
+			return createOllama(apiConfig.ollama.providerSettings)(apiConfig.ollama.model || 'llama3.1')
+
+		case 'azure':
+			return createAzure({
+				...apiConfig.azure.providerSettings,
+				apiKey: apiConfig.azure.apiKey,
+				resourceName: apiConfig.azure.resourceName,
+			})(`${apiConfig.azure.deploymentId}`)
+
 		default:
 			throw new Error(`Error: provider was ${apiConfig.provider}, which is not recognized!`)
 	}
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/extension.ts b/extensions/void/src/extension.ts
index 5d2ae6c0..fa2805e8 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/extension.ts
+++ b/extensions/void/src/extension.ts
@@ -115,7 +115,22 @@ export function activate(context: vscode.ExtensionContext) {
 			// Receive messages in the extension from the sidebar webview (messages are sent using `postMessage`)
 			webview.onDidReceiveMessage(async (m: WebviewMessage) => {
 
-				if (m.type === 'requestFiles') {
+				if (m.type === 'getRules') {
+					const workspaceFolder = vscode.workspace.workspaceFolders?.[0];
+					if (workspaceFolder) {
+						const rulesFilePath = vscode.Uri.joinPath(workspaceFolder.uri, '.voidrules');
+						try {
+							const rulesContent = await readFileContentOfUri(rulesFilePath);
+							webview.postMessage({ type: 'getRules', rules: rulesContent } satisfies WebviewMessage);
+						} catch (error) {
+							console.error('Error reading .voidrules file:', error);
+							webview.postMessage({ type: 'getRules', rules: null } satisfies WebviewMessage);
+						}
+					} else {
+						webview.postMessage({ type: 'getRules', rules: null } satisfies WebviewMessage);
+					}
+				}
+				else if (m.type === 'requestFiles') {
 
 					// get contents of all file paths
 					const files = await Promise.all(
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/shared_types.ts b/extensions/void/src/shared_types.ts
index 4d7c0dc9..d443bbe6 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/shared_types.ts
+++ b/extensions/void/src/shared_types.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ type WebviewMessage = (
 	// editor -> sidebar
 	| { type: 'apiConfig', apiConfig: ApiConfig }
 
+	// sidebar -> editor
+	| { type: 'getRules', rules: string | null }
+
 )
 
 type Command = WebviewMessage['type']
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/sidebar/Sidebar.tsx b/extensions/void/src/sidebar/Sidebar.tsx
index 0107e228..86df6407 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/sidebar/Sidebar.tsx
+++ b/extensions/void/src/sidebar/Sidebar.tsx
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ const Sidebar = () => {
 					{!selection?.selectionStr ? null
 						: (
 							<div className="relative">
-								<button 
+								<button
 									onClick={clearSelection}
 									className="absolute top-2 right-2 text-white hover:text-gray-300 z-10"
 								>
diff --git a/extensions/void/src/sidebar/getVscodeApi.ts b/extensions/void/src/sidebar/getVscodeApi.ts
index 890b31f2..caf22e6e 100644
--- a/extensions/void/src/sidebar/getVscodeApi.ts
+++ b/extensions/void/src/sidebar/getVscodeApi.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ const awaiting: { [c in Command]: ((res: any) => void)[] } = {
 	"requestFiles": [],
 	"files": [],
 	"apiConfig": [],
-	"getApiConfig": []
+	"getApiConfig": [],
+	"getRules": []
 }
 
 // use this function to await responses