Claude 4 is one of the best chatbots yet — here's the only prompt you'll ever need for it
There is an art to prompting AI. While a chatbot will answer almost any kind of question, no matter how you phrase it, they are designed to operate best with incredibly specific instructions.
This can be hard to work out yourself, needing a bit of understanding about how the models work. Most of the large companies in AI now have prompting guides, explaining how best to use them, but Anthropic's Claude goes a step further.
Load up the chatbot and you'll be given free rein to ask any question or request that comes to mind. Or, for a simplified and more effective approach, Claude offers five pre-made options that will set you up for the best answer.
These aren't necessary for a quick question or an easy request, but if you're looking for a detailed and well-thought-out answer, try these options out — all listed just below the search bar.
Claude currently offers five different pre-made options. These are: write, learn, code, life stuff, and Claude's choice. For each one that you click on, a host of options will appear. These change each time you open Claude, giving a wealth of options.
Write
As the name suggests, this is all tasks that involve writing. In this option, you'll find templates including writing case studies, developing content calendars, and creating social media posts.
Learn
The Learn category is one of the more varied ones. This can be for anything from developing discussion prompts on a given topic, creating feedback for students, or creating a knowledge map with surprising patterns in topics you know well.
The Learn category can be either incredibly specific or unbelievably vague, joined only by the idea that you'll learn something new here.
Code
Claude 4 has built up a reputation for its coding ability. However, it can be hard to get going with this. Vibe coding (the ability to write code by prompting AI) has seen a jump in popularity, but it does take a bit of skill.
This mode helps get you started, offering templates such as vibe code with me where it will start with a back-and-forth conversation about what you're making, or simply a clear request like help me turn a screenshot into working code.
Life Stuff
The vaguest sounding prompt here, Life Stuff, is anything in your personal life. Use this mode to organize your living space, improve your sleep habits or develop exercise routines.
This mode does involve putting in quite a lot of personal information about yourself. While Claude has made a point of not using any data that you put in for training, it is important to consider if you're comfortable divulging any information.
Claude's Choice
This is a bit like Google's 'I'm feeling lucky'. It's just a random assortment of starting points for a conversation with Claude.
Some of the examples I was presented with include 'explore ancient wisdom', 'consider innovation patterns', and 'explore memory techniques'.
This section is less useful, and more where you go when you're bored and looking for something to do.
Once you've decided on your category, simply click the prompt that best works for what you're after. If none of them fit exactly what you need, click the one that is closest to your needs.
Claude will then fill out the prompt for you with the model asking some follow-up questions to help nail down the conversation.
Using these pre-made prompts is a bit like having someone introduce you and explain what you're looking for. It sets up the conversation so all you need to do is answer the questions that you're asked.
The prompt that is generated by this method is almost identical every single time, looking roughly like this:
If none of the pre-made options apply to you, try copying the above into Claude, replacing the enter topic section with what you're looking for.
While the prompt style above won't always work, it is an easy way to get started with Claude and gives you an idea of the best way to get the chatbot to perform.
I tried it with a variety of prompts, both pre-made and ones of my own choosing and had success with the vast majority of them.
By using this kind of technique, it will also allow you to make the most of Claude's Artifacts feature - creating in-app games, tools, and interactive features.
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