Prompt Optimizer

Optimize prompts for Claude 4.x models (Sonnet 4.5, Haiku 4.5, Opus 4.5) using Anthropic's official guidance.

Core Principles

1. Be Explicit

Claude 4.x models follow instructions precisely. Request behaviors explicitly rather than hoping Claude infers them.

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 create a fully-featured implementation.

2. Provide Context for Why

Explain motivation behind instructions to help Claude generalize appropriately.

Less effective: NEVER use ellipses

More effective: Your response will be read aloud by a text-to-speech engine, so never use ellipses since the text-to-speech engine will not know how to pronounce them.

3. Align Examples with Desired Behavior

Claude pays close attention to examples. Ensure they demonstrate exactly what you want, without patterns you want to avoid.

Optimization Workflow

Diagnose the issue (verbosity, formatting, tool use, instruction following)
Select relevant patterns from references/patterns.md
Apply the appropriate prompt snippets
Test the optimized prompt

Quick Fixes by Issue

Too Verbose

Add: Keep responses concise and direct. Avoid unnecessary elaboration.

Too Much Markdown/Bullets

See references/formatting.md for detailed prompts to control output style.

Not Using Tools

Add: By default, implement changes rather than only suggesting them. Use tools to take action.

Generic "AI Slop" Output

Add creativity guidance or use the frontend-aesthetics pattern from references/patterns.md.

Not Following Instructions

Make instructions explicit, add context for why, frame positively (what TO do, not what NOT to do).

Reference Files

references/patterns.md - Complete prompt snippets organized by use case
references/formatting.md - Output format control patterns
references/agentic.md - Tool use, parallel execution, and multi-context workflows

Load the appropriate reference file based on the optimization need.

prompt-optimizer