AI Prompts by @ryanlewis

Claude Code Cheat-Sheet

Claude Code Cheat‑Sheet

Guiding Principles

  • Think before code → Ask Claude to outline its reasoning first ("Think:").
  • State the end‑state → Describe exact file paths, desired API signatures, test names, or UI snapshots you expect.
  • Constrain the diff → Use "Change ONLY …" or "Leave all other files untouched."
  • Iterate in slices → Prefer small, atomic prompts; chain multiple if needed.

Core Prompt Patterns

Intent Template
Plan first "Plan step‑by‑step how to … but **do not** write code yet."
TDD loop "Write a failing test in <path> that captures … then STOP."
Refactor safely "Refactor <file> to … . Preserve public API; keep tests passing."
Generate docs "Summarise the decisions above as markdown in /docs/design/<feature>.md"
Verify output "Show me the new diff only; no commentary."

Prompt Macros & Tokens

  • think / think harder / ultrathink → progressively larger reasoning budgets.
  • bash: prefix → shell commands in direct execution mode.
  • // skip_review at top of message → bypass human oversight for low‑risk routines.

Example Prompt Snippets

Plan step‑by‑step how to migrate uses of the legacy `PaymentClient` to 
`NewPaymentClient` across the `billing/` folder, then stop and wait for my OK.
Write a failing pytest in `tests/cli/test_config.py` that expresses:
- When the user passes `--config env` the CLI should read from ENV vars.
Refactor `src/cli/main.py` to extract argument parsing into a separate 
module `src/cli/arguments.py`; keep behaviour identical and tests green.

Debugging Your Prompts

  1. Over‑explain constraints → If Claude hallucinates paths, list them explicitly.
  2. Slice large tasks → Break big refactors into 3‑5 discrete prompts.
  3. Ask for self‑critique"Review your answer for mistakes, no code yet."

References & Further Reading

  • Anthropic "think" tool – official explanation of how think: pauses output for reflection. Anthropic Engineering Blog
  • Extended thinking mode – controlling reasoning budgets with the "thinking budget" slider. Anthropic News
  • Deep Thinking Keywords – community‑measured token counts for think hard, think harder, ultrathink. Reddit r/ClaudeAI
  • Plan‑Code‑Commit workflow – using small logical commits to review agent output. Hacker News discussion
  • TDD with Claude – write failing tests first to keep the agent honest. Reddit thread
  • Diff‑only verification – reviewing generated commits without commentary. Hacker News