Claude guide
Make Claude's context unambiguous.
Write better Claude prompts for document analysis, consistent writing and delegated tasks using clear source roles and concrete output criteria.
Updated
Separate instructions, evidence and examples
A long message often mixes instructions with a pasted report and an example answer. Label those parts so a quotation in the report does not look like a new instruction. Plain headings work; structured tags can help when the material is complicated.
Explain why a constraint exists. ‘Use plain language because the reader is a new customer’ gives a more useful direction than a list of banned words. Supply a good example and a near miss when the distinction is subtle.
Task: compare the two supplier proposals for our operations team. Sources: proposal A and proposal B, attached. Criteria: service coverage, implementation effort and unresolved dependencies. Output: a comparison table, a recommendation and five questions for the preferred supplier. Boundary: use only the proposals for factual claims; label anything missing.
Calibrate the voice with evidence
A description such as ‘professional but friendly’ fits thousands of brands. Show Claude a paragraph that sounds right, explain who reads it and name the features to reproduce: short sentences, direct address, concrete details or restrained humour. Protect your facts from being ‘improved’ for effect.
Use these two samples to describe our voice in five observable rules. Then rewrite [draft] using those rules. Keep names, promises and numbers unchanged. List the changes that affect meaning separately for review.
Delegate a result with boundaries
A file task needs an output location, a definition of finished and clear handling of uncertainty. Ask for an assumptions list when the inputs are incomplete. For a complex deliverable, request a plan before execution if the approach itself needs your judgement.
Claude's interface is changing: chat and Cowork capabilities are being merged in a staged rollout. Your account may still show separate choices. Brief the work according to its scope rather than relying on the mode label.
Use [folder or attached sources] to create [deliverable] for [audience]. Preserve the source files. State important assumptions, produce a draft in [format] and check every figure against the source. Return the finished file plus unresolved questions. Ask before sharing the result externally.
Common questions
Can I reuse a ChatGPT prompt in Claude?
Often, yes. Keep the goal and evidence requirements, then adapt references to the files and tools actually available in Claude.
Is Cowork still a separate mode?
It depends on your rollout. Anthropic is merging chat and Cowork into one conversation experience; some accounts still show separate options.
Keep exploring
Sources and editorial note
Guidance checked 9 October 2026. These AI-assisted guides and original templates are reviewed against the linked sources. Results depend on your inputs and available tools. Model recommendations are editorial starting points, not comparative test results.