Make Claude ask you questions first, explained by monkey
Claude can't read your mind, so a short request gets a guess. One extra line makes Claude ask what you want before it starts, and what comes back actually fits. Here's the exact line, a few versions to copy, and the one thing to watch for.
When you ask Claude for something in one sentence, like "make me a website", it fills in everything you didn't say: the colours, who it's for, what you're selling, how it should sound. Sometimes it guesses right. Often it doesn't, and you end up going back and forth fixing it.
Anthropic's own advice says it plainly: "Claude can infer intent, but it can't read your mind." Their fix for bigger jobs is to have Claude interview you first. You don't need to know anything technical to do it. You just add one line to your message.
The line to copy
Write what you want the way you normally would, then paste this at the end:
Before you start, ask me questions first. Ask about anything you'd need to know to get this right, one or a few at a time, and wait for my answers before you make anything.
Claude asks you things. You answer in plain words. When it has enough, it makes the thing, and it's built around your answers instead of its guesses.
Versions for different jobs
- A website: "I want a website for my banana stand. Before you start, ask me questions first: what it's for, who visits, what I sell, what colours and feel I like. Wait for my answers."
- An email or a hard message: "Help me write an email to my landlord about the broken heater. Ask me questions first so you get the tone and the details right."
- A plan: "Help me plan a birthday party for my mum. Ask me questions first: budget, how many people, what she likes. Then make the plan."
- A bigger project (this is close to Anthropic's own wording): "I want to build [what you want]. Interview me in detail. Don't ask obvious questions, dig into the hard parts I might not have considered. Keep going until we've covered everything, then write it all up."
- Just want it quick? "Ask me your three most important questions first, then go."
When it helps
Use it for anything where the details are in your head and not in your message: a website, a logo idea, a cover letter, a trip plan, a big email. Skip it for small, clear things like "fix the spelling in this". There's nothing for Claude to ask, and you'll just get questions you don't need.
The one gotcha
Say "wait for my answers". Without it, Claude sometimes lists a few questions and then makes something anyway in the same reply, guessing the answers itself. The words "before you start" and "wait for my answers" keep it from jumping ahead.
Let Claude interview youAnthropic's own version of this trick, with their interview promptBe clear and directwhy giving Claude more context gets you better results
Monkey believe in you. Now go build.
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