Prompting Guide for Claude Opus 5

ArticleAnthropicResource

Anthropic outlines behavioral differences and prompt patterns for Claude Opus 5, focusing on verbosity management, subagent delegation, scoping, and thinking controls.

Key points

  1. Optimised for complex agentic coding, multi-file refactors, and full 1M token contexts without generating stubs.
  2. Higher verbosity by default: The effort parameter controls thinking volume rather than visible output, requiring explicit instructions for conciseness.
  3. Autonomous verification: Directives to double-check work or run verification passes should be removed to avoid token bloat.
  4. Subagent delegation: Claude Opus 5 delegates readily, requiring explicit prompting criteria or deterministic depth caps (available in Claude Code 2.1.217+).
  5. Keep thinking enabled: Disabling thinking can cause raw XML tags or tool calls rendered as text; using low effort is the recommended approach instead.

Why it matters

Carrying over prompts directly from Claude Opus 4.8 can inflate token usage due to over-verification, verbose deliverables, and excessive subagent spawning. Adapting prompt patterns ensures efficient agentic workflows.

Analysis

Anthropic indicates a clear shift where model capabilities handle self-correction and multi-step planning independently, requiring developers to adjust their scaffolding. Rather than instructing the model how to verify its work, prompts must now focus on bounding the task scope and setting limits on narration and delegation.

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Summary generated by AI (Gemini 3.8 Flash, 27 September 2026). It may contain errors – the original source is authoritative.

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