claude-prompting-best-practices changedbuild-with-claude/prompt-engineering/claude-prompting-best-practices
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1111* **Migration considerations** last, for prompts moving from earlier generations.
1212
1313<Tip>
14 For an overview of model capabilities, see the [models overview](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/overview). For Claude Fable 5.1 capabilities and API changes, see [What’s new in Claude Fable 5.1](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/fable-5-1/whats-new-fable-5-1). For migration guidance, see the [Migration guide](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/models/migration-guide). For Claude Opus 5.5, see [What’s new in Claude Opus 5.5](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/opus-5-5/whats-new-opus-5-5). For Claude Sonnet 5.5, see [What’s new in Claude Sonnet 5.5](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/sonnet-5-5/whats-new-sonnet-5-5). For Claude Haiku 5.5, see [What’s new in Claude Haiku 5.5](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/haiku-5-5/whats-new-haiku-5-5).
14 For an overview of model capabilities, see [Models overview](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/overview). For Claude Fable 5.1 capabilities and API changes, see [What’s new in Claude Fable 5.1](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/fable-5-1/whats-new-fable-5-1). For migration guidance, see [Migration guides](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/models/migration-guide). For Claude Opus 5.5, see [What’s new in Claude Opus 5.5](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/opus-5-5/whats-new-opus-5-5). For Claude Sonnet 5.5, see [What’s new in Claude Sonnet 5.5](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/sonnet-5-5/whats-new-sonnet-5-5). For Claude Haiku 5.5, see [What’s new in Claude Haiku 5.5](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/haiku-5-5/whats-new-haiku-5-5).
1515</Tip>
1616
1717## Model-specific guidance
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778778* **Prefer general instructions over prescriptive steps.** A prompt such as “think thoroughly” often produces better reasoning than a hand-written step-by-step plan. Claude’s reasoning frequently exceeds what a human would prescribe.
779779* **Multishot examples work with thinking.** Worked examples in your prompt shape how Claude approaches similar problems in its own thinking blocks. Present each example as a problem, the method to apply, and the expected answer.
780* **Manual chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting as a fallback.** When thinking is off, you can still encourage step-by-step reasoning by asking Claude to think through the problem before it answers, and to put the final answer in `<answer>` tags so you can extract it. On Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Opus 5, and Claude Sonnet 5.5, rely on thinking instead, at a lower [effort](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/effort) level if cost or latency matters: a prompt that asks the model to write out its reasoning, for example in `<thinking>` tags, may be declined. See [Keep reasoning in thinking blocks](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/refusals-and-fallback#keep-reasoning-in-thinking-blocks).
780* **Manual chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting as a fallback.** When thinking is off, you can still encourage step-by-step reasoning by asking Claude to think through the problem before it answers, and to put the final answer in `<answer>` tags so you can extract it. On Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Opus 5, and Claude Sonnet 5.5, rely on thinking instead, at a lower [effort](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/effort) level if cost or latency matters: a prompt that asks the model to write out its reasoning, for example in `<thinking>` tags, might be declined. See [Keep reasoning in thinking blocks](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/refusals-and-fallback#keep-reasoning-in-thinking-blocks).
781781* **Ask Claude to self-check.** Append something like “Before you finish, verify your answer against \[test criteria].” This catches errors reliably, especially for coding and math. Claude Opus 5 is the exception: it verifies its own work well without explicit instruction, and verification instructions carried over from prompts tuned for earlier models can cause over-verification, adding tokens and latency. On Claude Opus 5, remove these instructions rather than rewriting them. See [Task scope and over-verification](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/prompting-claude-opus-5#task-scope-and-over-verification).
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783783<Note>
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10691069### Medication dosing
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1071If people might ask your application about medicine doses, add the block below for the model your application calls to your system prompt, exactly as written. The block has Claude give a child’s dose of an over-the-counter medicine from the product’s label, not from memory. With web search, such as the [web search tool](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/tool-use/web-search-tool), Claude checks the label before answering, which adds latency and search costs. Without web search, Claude points the person to the label’s dosing chart, a pharmacist, or the child’s doctor instead of giving a dose.
1071If people might ask your application about medicine doses, add the following block for the model your application calls to your system prompt, exactly as written. The block has Claude give a child’s dose of an over-the-counter medicine from the product’s label, not from memory. With web search, such as the [web search tool](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/tool-use/web-search-tool), Claude checks the label before answering, which adds latency and search costs. Without web search, Claude points the person to the label’s dosing chart, a pharmacist, or the child’s doctor instead of giving a dose.
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10731073```text Medication dosing block for Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Opus 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Opus 4.6, Claude Sonnet 5.5, and Claude Sonnet 5 wrap
10741074<medical_guidance>
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