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Guides/Claude Mastery/Prompting That Actually Works

Clear instructions beat clever prompts

7 min readPrompting That Actually Works

Good prompting is not template worship. It is clear task design: context, task, constraints, examples and output. Your goal is to make the work unambiguous.

  • Define the task in one clear verb: analyze, draft, compare, extract, classify, critique.
  • Explain the motivation when it affects judgment.
  • Name constraints that would change the answer.
  • Ask for the output shape you actually need.

Prompt upgrade pattern

Improve this prompt using: Context, Task, Constraints, Examples and Output. Explain what changed and why.

Weak prompt:
[paste]

Tip: If you cannot define the output contract, you probably have not defined the task.

    Clear instructions beat clever prompts | Claude Mastery