This guide provides specific techniques for designing and refining prompts to get the most out of Claude 4 (Opus 4 and Sonnet 4) models.

Claude 4 models have been trained for precise instruction following. By applying clear, context-rich prompts and leveraging advanced capabilities, you can steer these models toward more accurate, consistent, and useful outputs.

General Principles

Be explicit with your instructions

Claude 4 responds best to clear, detailed directives. If you want “above-and-beyond” behavior, spell it out explicitly.

Less effective:

Create an analytics dashboard

More effective:

Create an analytics dashboard. Include as many relevant features and interactions as possible. Go beyond the basics to deliver a fully featured implementation.

Add context to improve performance

Explaining the “why” behind a requirement helps Claude 4 understand your goals and tailor its output.

Less effective:

NEVER use ellipses

More effective:

Your response will be read aloud by a text‑to‑speech engine, so never use ellipses—otherwise the engine won’t know how to pronounce them.

Be vigilant with examples & details

Claude 4 pays close attention to the examples and details you provide. Make sure they align precisely with the behavior you want and avoid reinforcing unwanted patterns.

Guidance for Specific Situations

Control the format of responses

There are several effective techniques for steering output formatting:

1. Tell Claude what to do instead of what not to do.
   Example:
   Instead of “Do not use Markdown in your response,” try “Your response should be composed of smoothly flowing prose paragraphs.”

2. Use XML format indicators.
   Example:
   “Write the prose sections of your response wrapped in <smoothly_flowing_prose_paragraphs> tags.”

3. Match your prompt style to the desired output.
   Remove or mimic Markdown, JSON, or other formatting cues in your prompt to influence Claude’s output style.

Leverage thinking & interleaved thinking capabilities

Claude 4’s “thinking” features let you guide its internal reasoning and reflection, which is especially useful for complex or multi‑step tasks.

Example prompt:

After receiving tool results, carefully reflect on their quality and determine optimal next steps before proceeding. Use your thinking to plan and iterate based on this new information, and then take the best next action.

For more on thinking capabilities, see the Extended thinking guide.

Optimize parallel tool calling

Claude 4 excels at invoking multiple tools in parallel when prompted, improving efficiency for independent operations.

Sample agent prompt:

For maximum efficiency, whenever you need to perform multiple independent operations, invoke all relevant tools simultaneously rather than sequentially.

Reduce file creation in agentic coding

Claude 4 sometimes writes temporary files during code generation iterations. To minimize residual files, instruct it to clean up when done.

Sample prompt:

If you create any temporary files or helper scripts during iteration, remove them at the end of the task.

Enhance visual and frontend code generation

Encourage detailed, interactive designs by explicitly requesting additional features and polish.

Sample modifiers:

• “Include as many relevant features and interactions as possible.”
• “Add thoughtful details like hover states, transitions, and micro‑interactions.”
• “Create an impressive demonstration showcasing web development capabilities.”
• “Apply design principles: hierarchy, contrast, balance, and movement.”

Avoid focusing on passing tests and hard‑coding

To ensure robust, general solutions, ask Claude 4 to prioritize principled implementations over hard‑coding test cases.

Sample prompt:

Please implement a high‑quality, general‑purpose solution that works correctly for all valid inputs. Do not hard‑code values or focus solely on passing the provided tests. Instead, implement the underlying logic and design principles necessary for a robust, maintainable solution. If any tests seem infeasible or incorrect, let me know.

Migration Considerations

When upgrading from Sonnet 3.7 to Claude 4, keep these tips in mind:

1. Be specific about desired behavior. Describe exactly what you want in the output.
2. Frame your instructions with quality modifiers. Encourage detail, depth, and polish explicitly.
3. Request advanced features explicitly. Animations, interactivity, or edge‑case handling should be spelled out if you need them.