diff --git a/py/utils.py b/py/utils.py
index 0720db8..d1855a7 100644
--- a/py/utils.py
+++ b/py/utils.py
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ def load_role_config(role):
 }
 
 def parse_roles(prompt):
-    chunks = prompt.split()
+    chunks = re.split(r'[ :]+', prompt)
     roles = []
     for chunk in chunks:
         if not chunk.startswith("/"):