Contextualizing prompts improves Claude Opus execution quality
anthropic's claude opus executes instructions with higher quality and salience when prompts include the 'why' behind the request and labeled section references.
an analysis of collaboration with claude opus indicates that the model builds a 'gestalt' of the user's intent, interpreting prompts through a holistic lens before executing specific instructions. providing the 'why' alongside the 'what' improves the salience and nuance of the execution, while structural formatting with labeled sections creates reliable handles for backtracking. users must avoid emotional or all-caps phrasing, as this places the interaction in an attractor basin where the model prioritizes emotional management over precise task execution. additionally, negative constraints require careful handling to avoid making the prohibited action more prominent to the model.