diff --git a/bindings/kotlin/example/Usage.kt b/bindings/kotlin/example/Usage.kt
index 7c3fc4a3..99089515 100644
--- a/bindings/kotlin/example/Usage.kt
+++ b/bindings/kotlin/example/Usage.kt
@@ -130,8 +130,8 @@ fun main() = runBlocking {
         providerConfig,
         modelConfig,
         systemPreamble,
-        msgs,
-        extensions
+        messages = msgs,
+        extensions = extensions
     )
 
     val response = completion(req)
@@ -140,6 +140,32 @@ fun main() = runBlocking {
 
     // ---- UI Extraction (custom schema) ----
     runUiExtraction(providerName, providerConfig)
+
+
+    // --- Prompt Override ---
+    val prompt_req = createCompletionRequest(
+        providerName,
+        providerConfig,
+        modelConfig,
+        systemPreamble = null, 
+        systemPromptOverride = "You are a bot named Tile Creator. Your task is to create a tile based on the user's input.",
+        messages=listOf(
+            Message(
+                role    = Role.USER,
+                created = now,
+                content = listOf(
+                    MessageContent.Text(
+                        TextContent("What's your name?")
+                    )
+                )
+            )
+        ),
+        extensions=emptyList()
+    )
+
+    val prompt_resp = completion(prompt_req)
+
+    println("\nPrompt Override Response:\n${prompt_resp.message}")
 }
 
 
diff --git a/bindings/kotlin/uniffi/goose_llm/goose_llm.kt b/bindings/kotlin/uniffi/goose_llm/goose_llm.kt
index b5b16337..76e60aaf 100644
--- a/bindings/kotlin/uniffi/goose_llm/goose_llm.kt
+++ b/bindings/kotlin/uniffi/goose_llm/goose_llm.kt
@@ -830,6 +830,7 @@ internal interface UniffiLib : Library {
         `providerConfig`: RustBuffer.ByValue,
         `modelConfig`: RustBuffer.ByValue,
         `systemPreamble`: RustBuffer.ByValue,
+        `systemPromptOverride`: RustBuffer.ByValue,
         `messages`: RustBuffer.ByValue,
         `extensions`: RustBuffer.ByValue,
         uniffi_out_err: UniffiRustCallStatus,
@@ -1100,7 +1101,7 @@ private fun uniffiCheckApiChecksums(lib: IntegrityCheckingUniffiLib) {
     if (lib.uniffi_goose_llm_checksum_func_completion() != 47457.toShort()) {
         throw RuntimeException("UniFFI API checksum mismatch: try cleaning and rebuilding your project")
     }
-    if (lib.uniffi_goose_llm_checksum_func_create_completion_request() != 39068.toShort()) {
+    if (lib.uniffi_goose_llm_checksum_func_create_completion_request() != 50798.toShort()) {
         throw RuntimeException("UniFFI API checksum mismatch: try cleaning and rebuilding your project")
     }
     if (lib.uniffi_goose_llm_checksum_func_create_tool_config() != 49910.toShort()) {
@@ -2955,7 +2956,8 @@ fun `createCompletionRequest`(
     `providerName`: kotlin.String,
     `providerConfig`: Value,
     `modelConfig`: ModelConfig,
-    `systemPreamble`: kotlin.String,
+    `systemPreamble`: kotlin.String? = null,
+    `systemPromptOverride`: kotlin.String? = null,
     `messages`: List<Message>,
     `extensions`: List<ExtensionConfig>,
 ): CompletionRequest =
@@ -2965,7 +2967,8 @@ fun `createCompletionRequest`(
                 FfiConverterString.lower(`providerName`),
                 FfiConverterTypeValue.lower(`providerConfig`),
                 FfiConverterTypeModelConfig.lower(`modelConfig`),
-                FfiConverterString.lower(`systemPreamble`),
+                FfiConverterOptionalString.lower(`systemPreamble`),
+                FfiConverterOptionalString.lower(`systemPromptOverride`),
                 FfiConverterSequenceTypeMessage.lower(`messages`),
                 FfiConverterSequenceTypeExtensionConfig.lower(`extensions`),
                 _status,
diff --git a/crates/goose-llm/Cargo.toml b/crates/goose-llm/Cargo.toml
index 2323d29e..be240600 100644
--- a/crates/goose-llm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/goose-llm/Cargo.toml
@@ -59,3 +59,7 @@ path = "uniffi-bindgen.rs"
 [[example]]
 name = "simple"
 path = "examples/simple.rs"
+
+[[example]]
+name = "prompt_override"
+path = "examples/prompt_override.rs"
diff --git a/crates/goose-llm/README.md b/crates/goose-llm/README.md
index 08d806b8..f32b61c3 100644
--- a/crates/goose-llm/README.md
+++ b/crates/goose-llm/README.md
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ curl -O https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/net/java/dev/jna/jna/5.13.0/jna-5.13.0.ja
 popd
 ```
 
-To just create the Kotlin bindings:
+To just create the Kotlin bindings (for MacOS):
 
 ```bash
 # run from project root directory
@@ -58,6 +58,18 @@ cargo build -p goose-llm
 cargo run --features=uniffi/cli --bin uniffi-bindgen generate --library ./target/debug/libgoose_llm.dylib --language kotlin --out-dir bindings/kotlin
 ```
 
+Creating `libgoose_llm.so` for Linux distribution:
+
+Use `cross` to build for the specific target and then create the bindings:
+```
+# x86-64 GNU/Linux (kGoose uses this)
+rustup target add x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+cross build --release --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu -p goose-llm
+
+# The goose_llm.kt bindings produced should be the same whether we use 'libgoose_llm.dylib' or 'libgoose_llm.so'
+cross run --features=uniffi/cli --bin uniffi-bindgen generate --library ./target/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/libgoose_llm.so --language kotlin --out-dir bindings/kotlin
+```
+
 
 #### Python -> Rust: generate bindings, run example
 
diff --git a/crates/goose-llm/examples/prompt_override.rs b/crates/goose-llm/examples/prompt_override.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3cebffc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/goose-llm/examples/prompt_override.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+use std::vec;
+
+use anyhow::Result;
+use goose_llm::{
+    completion,
+    types::completion::{CompletionRequest, CompletionResponse},
+    Message, ModelConfig,
+};
+use serde_json::json;
+
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    let provider = "databricks";
+    let provider_config = json!({
+        "host": std::env::var("DATABRICKS_HOST").expect("Missing DATABRICKS_HOST"),
+        "token": std::env::var("DATABRICKS_TOKEN").expect("Missing DATABRICKS_TOKEN"),
+    });
+    // let model_name = "goose-gpt-4-1"; // parallel tool calls
+    let model_name = "claude-3-5-haiku";
+    let model_config = ModelConfig::new(model_name.to_string());
+
+    let system_prompt_override = "You are a helpful assistant. Talk in the style of pirates.";
+
+    for text in ["How was your day?"] {
+        println!("\n---------------\n");
+        println!("User Input: {text}");
+        let messages = vec![
+            Message::user().with_text("Hi there!"),
+            Message::assistant().with_text("How can I help?"),
+            Message::user().with_text(text),
+        ];
+        let completion_response: CompletionResponse = completion(CompletionRequest::new(
+            provider.to_string(),
+            provider_config.clone(),
+            model_config.clone(),
+            None,
+            Some(system_prompt_override.to_string()),
+            messages.clone(),
+            vec![],
+        ))
+        .await?;
+        // Print the response
+        println!("\nCompletion Response:");
+        println!("{}", serde_json::to_string_pretty(&completion_response)?);
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/crates/goose-llm/examples/simple.rs b/crates/goose-llm/examples/simple.rs
index 9544f7ce..99ecea31 100644
--- a/crates/goose-llm/examples/simple.rs
+++ b/crates/goose-llm/examples/simple.rs
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
             provider.to_string(),
             provider_config.clone(),
             model_config.clone(),
-            system_preamble.to_string(),
+            Some(system_preamble.to_string()),
+            None,
             messages.clone(),
             extensions.clone(),
         ))
diff --git a/crates/goose-llm/src/completion.rs b/crates/goose-llm/src/completion.rs
index 2095df73..d39b1b8d 100644
--- a/crates/goose-llm/src/completion.rs
+++ b/crates/goose-llm/src/completion.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,11 @@ pub async fn completion(req: CompletionRequest) -> Result<CompletionResponse, Co
     )
     .map_err(|_| CompletionError::UnknownProvider(req.provider_name.to_string()))?;
 
-    let system_prompt = construct_system_prompt(&req.system_preamble, &req.extensions)?;
+    let system_prompt = construct_system_prompt(
+        &req.system_preamble,
+        &req.system_prompt_override,
+        &req.extensions,
+    )?;
     let tools = collect_prefixed_tools(&req.extensions);
 
     // Call the LLM provider
@@ -60,9 +64,24 @@ pub async fn completion(req: CompletionRequest) -> Result<CompletionResponse, Co
 
 /// Render the global `system.md` template with the provided context.
 fn construct_system_prompt(
-    system_preamble: &str,
+    preamble: &Option<String>,
+    prompt_override: &Option<String>,
     extensions: &[ExtensionConfig],
 ) -> Result<String, CompletionError> {
+    // If both system_preamble and system_prompt_override are provided, then prompt_override takes precedence
+    // and we don't render the template using preamble and extensions. Just return the prompt_override as is.
+    if prompt_override.is_some() {
+        return Ok(prompt_override.clone().unwrap());
+    }
+
+    let system_preamble = {
+        if let Some(p) = preamble {
+            p
+        } else {
+            "You are a helpful assistant."
+        }
+    };
+
     let mut context: HashMap<&str, Value> = HashMap::new();
     context.insert("system_preamble", Value::String(system_preamble.to_owned()));
     context.insert("extensions", serde_json::to_value(extensions)?);
diff --git a/crates/goose-llm/src/types/completion.rs b/crates/goose-llm/src/types/completion.rs
index def6a6d2..21e0bcd9 100644
--- a/crates/goose-llm/src/types/completion.rs
+++ b/crates/goose-llm/src/types/completion.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ pub struct CompletionRequest {
     pub provider_name: String,
     pub provider_config: serde_json::Value,
     pub model_config: ModelConfig,
-    pub system_preamble: String,
+    pub system_preamble: Option<String>,
+    pub system_prompt_override: Option<String>,
     pub messages: Vec<Message>,
     pub extensions: Vec<ExtensionConfig>,
 }
@@ -26,7 +27,8 @@ impl CompletionRequest {
         provider_name: String,
         provider_config: serde_json::Value,
         model_config: ModelConfig,
-        system_preamble: String,
+        system_preamble: Option<String>,
+        system_prompt_override: Option<String>,
         messages: Vec<Message>,
         extensions: Vec<ExtensionConfig>,
     ) -> Self {
@@ -34,6 +36,7 @@ impl CompletionRequest {
             provider_name,
             provider_config,
             model_config,
+            system_prompt_override,
             system_preamble,
             messages,
             extensions,
@@ -41,12 +44,13 @@ impl CompletionRequest {
     }
 }
 
-#[uniffi::export]
+#[uniffi::export(default(system_preamble = None,  system_prompt_override = None))]
 pub fn create_completion_request(
     provider_name: &str,
     provider_config: JsonValueFfi,
     model_config: ModelConfig,
-    system_preamble: &str,
+    system_preamble: Option<String>,
+    system_prompt_override: Option<String>,
     messages: Vec<Message>,
     extensions: Vec<ExtensionConfig>,
 ) -> CompletionRequest {
@@ -54,7 +58,8 @@ pub fn create_completion_request(
         provider_name.to_string(),
         provider_config,
         model_config,
-        system_preamble.to_string(),
+        system_preamble,
+        system_prompt_override,
         messages,
         extensions,
     )