diff --git a/core/chatter.go b/core/chatter.go
index f85a0ebe1..9eff5dd11 100644
--- a/core/chatter.go
+++ b/core/chatter.go
@@ -98,19 +98,36 @@ func (o *Chatter) BuildSession(request *common.ChatRequest, raw bool) (session *
 		contextContent = ctx.Content
 	}
 
+
+
 	var patternContent string
+	var pattern *fsdb.Pattern
 	if request.PatternName != "" {
-		var pattern *fsdb.Pattern
-		if pattern, err = o.db.Patterns.GetApplyVariables(request.PatternName, request.PatternVariables); err != nil {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("could not find pattern %s: %v", request.PatternName, err)
-			return
-		}
-
-		if pattern.Pattern != "" {
-			patternContent = pattern.Pattern
-		}
+			pathStr := request.PatternName
+			// First determine if this looks like a file path at all
+			isFilePath := strings.HasPrefix(pathStr, "\\") || 
+										strings.HasPrefix(pathStr, "/") ||
+										strings.HasPrefix(pathStr, "~") ||
+										strings.HasPrefix(pathStr, ".")
+			if isFilePath {
+				// Use the new file-based pattern method
+				if pattern, err = o.db.Patterns.GetFromFile(pathStr, request.PatternVariables); err != nil {
+						err = fmt.Errorf("could not read pattern file %s: %v", pathStr, err)
+						return
+				}
+			} else {
+					// Existing database lookup
+					if pattern, err = o.db.Patterns.GetApplyVariables(request.PatternName, request.PatternVariables); err != nil {
+							err = fmt.Errorf("could not find pattern %s: %v", request.PatternName, err)
+							return
+					}
+			}
+			if pattern.Pattern != "" {
+					patternContent = pattern.Pattern
+			}
 	}
 
+	
 	systemMessage := strings.TrimSpace(contextContent) + strings.TrimSpace(patternContent)
 	if request.Language != "" {
 		systemMessage = fmt.Sprintf("%s. Please use the language '%s' for the output.", systemMessage, request.Language)
diff --git a/plugins/db/fsdb/patterns.go b/plugins/db/fsdb/patterns.go
index 0daa18525..475020311 100644
--- a/plugins/db/fsdb/patterns.go
+++ b/plugins/db/fsdb/patterns.go
@@ -66,3 +66,34 @@ type Pattern struct {
 	Description string
 	Pattern     string
 }
+
+// GetFromFile reads a pattern from a file path and applies variables if provided
+// this provides an ad-hoc way to use a pattern
+func (o *PatternsEntity) GetFromFile(pathStr string, variables map[string]string) (ret *Pattern, err error) {
+  // Handle home directory expansion
+  if strings.HasPrefix(pathStr, "~/") {
+			var homedir string
+			if homedir, err = os.UserHomeDir(); err != nil {
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get home directory: %v", err)
+			}
+			pathStr = filepath.Join(homedir, pathStr[2:])
+	}
+
+
+	var content []byte
+	if content, err = os.ReadFile(pathStr); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not read pattern file %s: %v", pathStr, err)
+	}
+
+	ret = &Pattern{
+			Name:    pathStr,
+			Pattern: string(content),
+	}
+
+	if variables != nil && len(variables) > 0 {
+			for variableName, value := range variables {
+					ret.Pattern = strings.ReplaceAll(ret.Pattern, variableName, value)
+			}
+	}
+	return
+}
\ No newline at end of file