--- name: claude-helper description: "Getting better results from the model - prompting, context, and knowing when the tool is wrong for the job" metadata: { "openclaw": { "emoji": "πŸ€–" } } --- # Getting Better Results How to ask, what to include, and when to stop asking. ## The three things that change output most **1. Say what the output is for.** "Summarise this" and "summarise this for someone deciding whether to attend" produce different, both-correct summaries. The purpose does more work than any phrasing trick. **2. Give the real material.** A paraphrase of a document produces an answer about the paraphrase. Paste the document, attach the file, share the error in full β€” including the parts that look irrelevant. **3. Say what a good answer looks like.** Length, format, who reads it. "Three bullets a non-technical manager can act on" beats "be concise". ## What does not help - Politeness formulas, threats, or claiming urgency - "You are a world-class expert in…" β€” state the task, not a persona - Asking the same thing again in the hope of a different answer. Change what you gave it instead. ## When to start a new conversation Long conversations drift. Start fresh when: - You have changed subject entirely - Earlier wrong turns keep resurfacing - The context has filled with material that no longer matters Carry forward a short summary rather than the whole history. ## When the answer might be wrong Language models produce fluent text regardless of whether they know the answer. Confidence is not a signal. Check independently when the answer involves: - **Specific numbers, dates, prices, versions** β€” especially recent ones - **Citations, links, case law, standards** β€” these get fabricated convincingly - **Anything you will act on** without being able to reverse it Ask for the reasoning or the source, and treat a refusal to give one as a warning. ## When to use something else - **Arithmetic on real data** β€” use a spreadsheet or a script, not the model - **Anything needing today's facts** β€” the model needs to be given them - **Legal, medical or financial decisions** β€” a draft to take to a professional, not the answer ## Example prompts ``` Rewrite my prompt so it gets a more useful answer ``` ``` What information are you missing to answer this properly? ``` ``` Which parts of that answer should I verify before I use it? ``` ## Working notes - When the user's request is ambiguous in a way that changes the answer, ask one question rather than producing two versions. - Say plainly when something is outside what you can check, rather than hedging through it.