diff --git a/src/goose/toolkit/developer.py b/src/goose/toolkit/developer.py
index e977d13d..1114df19 100644
--- a/src/goose/toolkit/developer.py
+++ b/src/goose/toolkit/developer.py
@@ -34,7 +34,12 @@ class Developer(Toolkit):
 
     def system(self) -> str:
         """Retrieve system configuration details for developer"""
-        return Message.load("prompts/developer.jinja").text
+        hints_path = Path('.goosehints')
+        system_prompt = Message.load("prompts/developer.jinja").text
+        if hints_path.is_file():
+            goosehints = hints_path.read_text()
+            system_prompt = f"{system_prompt}\n\nHints:\n{goosehints}"
+        return system_prompt
 
     @tool
     def update_plan(self, tasks: List[dict]) -> List[dict]:
diff --git a/tests/toolkit/test_developer.py b/tests/toolkit/test_developer.py
index 915380df..e049ee9f 100644
--- a/tests/toolkit/test_developer.py
+++ b/tests/toolkit/test_developer.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 from pathlib import Path
+
+
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, Mock
 
@@ -66,3 +68,5 @@ def test_write_file(temp_dir, developer_toolkit):
     content = "Hello World"
     developer_toolkit.write_file(test_file.as_posix(), content)
     assert test_file.read_text() == content
+
+