diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 54aa2ea..bbb80a4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ Application Options:
   -T, --topp=                       Set top P (default: 0.9)
   -s, --stream                      Stream
   -P, --presencepenalty=            Set presence penalty (default: 0.0)
+  -u, --user-instead-of-system      Use the user role instead of the system role for the pattern
   -F, --frequencypenalty=           Set frequency penalty (default: 0.0)
   -l, --listpatterns                List all patterns
   -L, --listmodels                  List all available models
diff --git a/cli/flags.go b/cli/flags.go
index 7de2584..ce49289 100644
--- a/cli/flags.go
+++ b/cli/flags.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ type Flags struct {
 	TopP                    float64           `short:"T" long:"topp" description:"Set top P" default:"0.9"`
 	Stream                  bool              `short:"s" long:"stream" description:"Stream"`
 	PresencePenalty         float64           `short:"P" long:"presencepenalty" description:"Set presence penalty" default:"0.0"`
+	UserInsteadOfSystemRole bool              `short:"u" long:"user-instead-of-system" description:"Use the user role instead of the system role for the pattern"`
 	FrequencyPenalty        float64           `short:"F" long:"frequencypenalty" description:"Set frequency penalty" default:"0.0"`
 	ListPatterns            bool              `short:"l" long:"listpatterns" description:"List all patterns"`
 	ListAllModels           bool              `short:"L" long:"listmodels" description:"List all available models"`
@@ -89,10 +90,11 @@ func readStdin() (string, error) {
 
 func (o *Flags) BuildChatOptions() (ret *common.ChatOptions) {
 	ret = &common.ChatOptions{
-		Temperature:      o.Temperature,
-		TopP:             o.TopP,
-		PresencePenalty:  o.PresencePenalty,
-		FrequencyPenalty: o.FrequencyPenalty,
+		Temperature:             o.Temperature,
+		TopP:                    o.TopP,
+		PresencePenalty:         o.PresencePenalty,
+		FrequencyPenalty:        o.FrequencyPenalty,
+		UserInsteadOfSystemRole: o.UserInsteadOfSystemRole,
 	}
 	return
 }
diff --git a/cli/flags_test.go b/cli/flags_test.go
index 865a262..894cbf0 100644
--- a/cli/flags_test.go
+++ b/cli/flags_test.go
@@ -56,10 +56,11 @@ func TestBuildChatOptions(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	expectedOptions := &common.ChatOptions{
-		Temperature:      0.8,
-		TopP:             0.9,
-		PresencePenalty:  0.1,
-		FrequencyPenalty: 0.2,
+		Temperature:             0.8,
+		TopP:                    0.9,
+		PresencePenalty:         0.1,
+		FrequencyPenalty:        0.2,
+		UserInsteadOfSystemRole: false,
 	}
 	options := flags.BuildChatOptions()
 	assert.Equal(t, expectedOptions, options)
diff --git a/common/domain.go b/common/domain.go
index f546830..4019486 100644
--- a/common/domain.go
+++ b/common/domain.go
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package common
 
+import goopenai "github.com/sashabaranov/go-openai"
+
 type Message struct {
 	Role    string `json:"role"`
 	Content string `json:"content"`
@@ -14,11 +16,12 @@ type ChatRequest struct {
 }
 
 type ChatOptions struct {
-	Model            string
-	Temperature      float64
-	TopP             float64
-	PresencePenalty  float64
-	FrequencyPenalty float64
+	Model                   string
+	Temperature             float64
+	TopP                    float64
+	PresencePenalty         float64
+	FrequencyPenalty        float64
+	UserInsteadOfSystemRole bool
 }
 
 // NormalizeMessages remove empty messages and ensure messages order user-assist-user
@@ -32,8 +35,8 @@ func NormalizeMessages(msgs []*Message, defaultUserMessage string) (ret []*Messa
 		}
 
 		// Ensure, that each odd position shall be a user message
-		if fullMessageIndex%2 == 0 && message.Role != "user" {
-			ret = append(ret, &Message{Role: "user", Content: defaultUserMessage})
+		if fullMessageIndex%2 == 0 && message.Role != goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser {
+			ret = append(ret, &Message{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: defaultUserMessage})
 			fullMessageIndex++
 		}
 		ret = append(ret, message)
diff --git a/common/domain_test.go b/common/domain_test.go
index a4b5ffe..49dcdf3 100644
--- a/common/domain_test.go
+++ b/common/domain_test.go
@@ -1,23 +1,24 @@
 package common
 
 import (
+	goopenai "github.com/sashabaranov/go-openai"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"testing"
 )
 
 func TestNormalizeMessages(t *testing.T) {
 	msgs := []*Message{
-		{Role: "user", Content: "Hello"},
-		{Role: "bot", Content: "Hi there!"},
-		{Role: "bot", Content: ""},
-		{Role: "user", Content: ""},
-		{Role: "user", Content: "How are you?"},
+		{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: "Hello"},
+		{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleAssistant, Content: "Hi there!"},
+		{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: ""},
+		{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: ""},
+		{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: "How are you?"},
 	}
 
 	expected := []*Message{
-		{Role: "user", Content: "Hello"},
-		{Role: "bot", Content: "Hi there!"},
-		{Role: "user", Content: "How are you?"},
+		{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: "Hello"},
+		{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleAssistant, Content: "Hi there!"},
+		{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: "How are you?"},
 	}
 
 	actual := NormalizeMessages(msgs, "default")
diff --git a/core/chatter.go b/core/chatter.go
index f90a0c0..2215a6e 100644
--- a/core/chatter.go
+++ b/core/chatter.go
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ package core
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
-
 	"github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/common"
 	"github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/db"
 	"github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/vendors"
+	goopenai "github.com/sashabaranov/go-openai"
 )
 
 type Chatter struct {
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func (o *Chatter) Send(request *common.ChatRequest, opts *common.ChatOptions) (m
 	}
 
 	var session *db.Session
-	if session, err = chatRequest.BuildChatSession(); err != nil {
+	if session, err = chatRequest.BuildChatSession(opts.UserInsteadOfSystemRole); err != nil {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func (o *Chatter) Send(request *common.ChatRequest, opts *common.ChatOptions) (m
 	}
 
 	if chatRequest.Session != nil && message != "" {
-		chatRequest.Session.Append(&common.Message{Role: "system", Content: message})
+		chatRequest.Session.Append(&common.Message{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleAssistant, Content: message})
 		err = o.db.Sessions.SaveSession(chatRequest.Session)
 	}
 	return
diff --git a/core/chatter_test.go b/core/chatter_test.go
index 70966e7..3336e0d 100644
--- a/core/chatter_test.go
+++ b/core/chatter_test.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ func TestBuildChatSession(t *testing.T) {
 		Pattern: "test pattern",
 		Message: "test message",
 	}
-	session, err := chat.BuildChatSession()
+	session, err := chat.BuildChatSession(false)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("BuildChatSession() error = %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/core/fabric.go b/core/fabric.go
index eec56fd..ea47298 100644
--- a/core/fabric.go
+++ b/core/fabric.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/vendors/groq"
+	goopenai "github.com/sashabaranov/go-openai"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -236,7 +237,7 @@ func (o *Fabric) CreateOutputFile(message string, fileName string) (err error) {
 	return
 }
 
-func (o *Chat) BuildChatSession() (ret *db.Session, err error) {
+func (o *Chat) BuildChatSession(userInsteadOfSystemRole bool) (ret *db.Session, err error) {
 	// new messages will be appended to the session and used to send the message
 	if o.Session != nil {
 		ret = o.Session
@@ -245,14 +246,20 @@ func (o *Chat) BuildChatSession() (ret *db.Session, err error) {
 	}
 
 	systemMessage := strings.TrimSpace(o.Context) + strings.TrimSpace(o.Pattern)
-
-	if systemMessage != "" {
-		ret.Append(&common.Message{Role: "system", Content: systemMessage})
-	}
-
 	userMessage := strings.TrimSpace(o.Message)
-	if userMessage != "" {
-		ret.Append(&common.Message{Role: "user", Content: userMessage})
+
+	if userInsteadOfSystemRole {
+		message := systemMessage + userMessage
+		if message != "" {
+			ret.Append(&common.Message{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: message})
+		}
+	} else {
+		if systemMessage != "" {
+			ret.Append(&common.Message{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleSystem, Content: systemMessage})
+		}
+		if userMessage != "" {
+			ret.Append(&common.Message{Role: goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser, Content: userMessage})
+		}
 	}
 
 	if ret.IsEmpty() {
diff --git a/vendors/anthropic/anthropic.go b/vendors/anthropic/anthropic.go
index 5f62ac0..0da9c0f 100644
--- a/vendors/anthropic/anthropic.go
+++ b/vendors/anthropic/anthropic.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	goopenai "github.com/sashabaranov/go-openai"
 
 	"github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/common"
 	"github.com/liushuangls/go-anthropic/v2"
@@ -121,10 +122,8 @@ func (an *Client) toMessages(msgs []*common.Message) (ret []anthropic.Message) {
 	for _, msg := range normalizedMessages {
 		var message anthropic.Message
 		switch msg.Role {
-		case "user":
+		case goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser:
 			message = anthropic.NewUserTextMessage(msg.Content)
-		case "system":
-			message = anthropic.NewAssistantTextMessage(msg.Content)
 		default:
 			message = anthropic.NewAssistantTextMessage(msg.Content)
 		}
diff --git a/vendors/dryrun/dryrun.go b/vendors/dryrun/dryrun.go
index c13350c..5d3d077 100644
--- a/vendors/dryrun/dryrun.go
+++ b/vendors/dryrun/dryrun.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	goopenai "github.com/sashabaranov/go-openai"
 
 	"github.com/danielmiessler/fabric/common"
 )
@@ -35,9 +36,11 @@ func (c *Client) SendStream(msgs []*common.Message, opts *common.ChatOptions, ch
 
 	for _, msg := range msgs {
 		switch msg.Role {
-		case "system":
+		case goopenai.ChatMessageRoleSystem:
 			output += fmt.Sprintf("System:\n%s\n\n", msg.Content)
-		case "user":
+		case goopenai.ChatMessageRoleAssistant:
+			output += fmt.Sprintf("Assistant:\n%s\n\n", msg.Content)
+		case goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser:
 			output += fmt.Sprintf("User:\n%s\n\n", msg.Content)
 		default:
 			output += fmt.Sprintf("%s:\n%s\n\n", msg.Role, msg.Content)
@@ -56,14 +59,16 @@ func (c *Client) SendStream(msgs []*common.Message, opts *common.ChatOptions, ch
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *Client) Send(ctx context.Context, msgs []*common.Message, opts *common.ChatOptions) (string, error) {
+func (c *Client) Send(_ context.Context, msgs []*common.Message, opts *common.ChatOptions) (string, error) {
 	fmt.Println("Dry run: Would send the following request:")
 
 	for _, msg := range msgs {
 		switch msg.Role {
-		case "system":
+		case goopenai.ChatMessageRoleSystem:
 			fmt.Printf("System:\n%s\n\n", msg.Content)
-		case "user":
+		case goopenai.ChatMessageRoleAssistant:
+			fmt.Printf("Assistant:\n%s\n\n", msg.Content)
+		case goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser:
 			fmt.Printf("User:\n%s\n\n", msg.Content)
 		default:
 			fmt.Printf("%s:\n%s\n\n", msg.Role, msg.Content)
@@ -84,6 +89,6 @@ func (c *Client) Setup() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *Client) SetupFillEnvFileContent(buffer *bytes.Buffer) {
+func (c *Client) SetupFillEnvFileContent(_ *bytes.Buffer) {
 	// No environment variables needed for dry run
 }
diff --git a/vendors/openai/openai.go b/vendors/openai/openai.go
index e9c9755..b382a97 100644
--- a/vendors/openai/openai.go
+++ b/vendors/openai/openai.go
@@ -111,17 +111,7 @@ func (o *Client) buildChatCompletionRequest(
 	msgs []*common.Message, opts *common.ChatOptions,
 ) (ret goopenai.ChatCompletionRequest) {
 	messages := lo.Map(msgs, func(message *common.Message, _ int) goopenai.ChatCompletionMessage {
-		var role string
-
-		switch message.Role {
-		case "user":
-			role = goopenai.ChatMessageRoleUser
-		case "system":
-			role = goopenai.ChatMessageRoleSystem
-		default:
-			role = goopenai.ChatMessageRoleSystem
-		}
-		return goopenai.ChatCompletionMessage{Role: role, Content: message.Content}
+		return goopenai.ChatCompletionMessage{Role: message.Role, Content: message.Content}
 	})
 
 	ret = goopenai.ChatCompletionRequest{