Lesson Content

What are prompt command patterns?

A prompt command pattern is a reusable instruction that reliably shapes Claude's output in a specific, useful way. These are not secret incantations – they are natural language instructions that have proven, repeatable effects. Experienced Claude users reach for these automatically. New users discover them one by one over months of use. This lesson gives you all of them at once.

Command Pattern 1: "Before you answer, list your assumptions."

Purpose: Surface how Claude interpreted an ambiguous prompt before it commits to an answer.

Use when: The task is complex, strategic, or technical – and a wrong interpretation would produce a useless long response.

Example: "Before you answer, briefly list the assumptions you are making about my role, my audience, and the scope of this question."

Command Pattern 2: "Ask me clarifying questions before you begin."

Purpose: Invert the standard pattern – Claude asks, you answer, then Claude produces a more targeted response.

Use when: The task is high-stakes, complex, or genuinely ambiguous enough that a clarifying conversation would significantly improve the output.

Example: "Before you write anything, ask me the three questions that would most improve your response. Wait for my answers."

Command Pattern 3: "Think step by step."

Purpose: Causes Claude to show its reasoning process, not just its conclusion – enabling you to identify where reasoning went wrong.

Use when: The task involves logic, math, analysis, or multi-step reasoning where seeing the process matters.

Example: "Think through this step by step and show your reasoning, not just the conclusion."

Command Pattern 4: "Act as [specific role]."

Purpose: Frames Claude's response from a specific professional perspective, adjusting vocabulary, depth, and analytical angle.

Use when: You want expert-framed analysis – a legal perspective, a financial analyst's take, a UX designer's critique, a skeptical investor's view.

Example: "Act as a skeptical CFO reviewing this business proposal. What objections would you raise?"

Command Pattern 5: "Play devil's advocate."

Purpose: Asks Claude to argue against your position or plan as compellingly as possible.

Use when: You want to stress-test an idea, decision, or argument before presenting it to others.

Example: "Play devil's advocate on this plan. What are the strongest arguments against it?"

Command Pattern 6: "Steelman [position or option]."

Purpose: Asks Claude to make the strongest possible case for a position – even one you are not taking.

Use when: You want to understand a counterargument at its strongest, prepare for a debate, or give fair consideration to an option you are skeptical of.

Example: "Steelman the argument for Option B even though I'm currently leaning toward Option A."

Command Pattern 7: "Give me a pre-mortem."

Purpose: Asks Claude to imagine a plan has already failed and identify the most likely reasons – before you commit.

Use when: You have a plan, project, or decision and want to identify its weakest points before proceeding.

Example: "Imagine it's six months from now and this project failed. What are the three most likely reasons it failed?"

Command Pattern 8: "Skip the preamble."

Purpose: Prevents Claude from opening with acknowledgment, context-setting, or build-up before delivering the actual answer.

Use when: You want the answer directly, without "Certainly! That's a great question. Here's what I can tell you about…" at the start.

Example: "Skip the preamble. Start directly with the answer."

Command Pattern 9: "Format as [specific structure]."

Purpose: Specifies the exact output structure you need – table, numbered list, bullet points, prose, JSON, two-column comparison, etc.

Use when: The output needs to fit a specific use case and the wrong format would make it unusable.

Example: "Format your response as a Markdown table with these columns: [column names]."

Command Pattern 10: "What am I not asking that I should be?"

Purpose: Asks Claude to identify questions, considerations, or angles you have not raised – the "unknown unknowns."

Use when: You are in unfamiliar territory and want to make sure you are not missing something important.

Example: "Before we finish, what am I not asking about this situation that I should be?"

Command Pattern 11: "Flag your uncertainty."

Purpose: Asks Claude to mark claims where it is not confident, so you know what to verify first.

Use when: The output will be used professionally and you need to prioritize your verification effort.

Example: "In your response, mark any claim you are uncertain about with [VERIFY] so I know where to focus my fact-checking."

Command Pattern 12: "Give me [number] options, not one recommendation."

Purpose: Requests multiple approaches or alternatives rather than Claude choosing one for you.

Use when: You want to retain decision-making control and evaluate options yourself.

Example: "Give me three different approaches to this problem, not a single recommendation. I'll decide which to pursue."

Command Pattern 13: "Respond at [level] depth."

Purpose: Calibrates the technical depth or comprehensiveness of the response.

Use when: You need to match the response to your actual knowledge level or the complexity the task warrants.

Example: "Explain this at an intermediate level – I understand the basics but I've never applied this professionally."

Command Pattern 14: "What would change this answer?"

Purpose: Identifies the assumptions and conditions under which Claude's analysis holds – and what information would invalidate it.

Use when: You have received a recommendation or analysis and want to understand how robust it is.

Example: "What information, if I had it, would change the recommendation you just gave?"

Command Pattern 15: "Summarize what we've decided so far."

Purpose: Creates a running record of decisions made in a long conversation – preventing drift and giving you a checkpoint.

Use when: You are in a long multi-turn conversation building a plan, analysis, or document and want to confirm the current state before proceeding.

Example: "Before we continue, summarize the key decisions and choices we've made so far in this conversation."

Combining command patterns.

Many of these patterns work together in a single prompt:

"Act as a skeptical investor reviewing this pitch deck. Before you respond, list your assumptions about what stage of company this is and what kind of investors I'm pitching to. Think step by step through the deck's strengths and weaknesses. Skip the preamble. Flag any claim you cannot verify. Format your response as: (1) what works, (2) what needs strengthening, (3) the one thing that would most likely lose an investor."

This single prompt uses five command patterns simultaneously: role, assumption-listing, step-by-step, preamble-skipping, uncertainty-flagging, and structured output. The result is dramatically more useful than a simple "review my pitch deck."