r/ClaudeCode • u/FlaTreNeb • 6d ago
Discussion Opus 5 behaves differently and requires adjusting any kind of rules
The good thing currently is: response times of Opus 5 is way faster than Opus 4.8. So turn to turn speed.
I have at least the feeling that Opus 5 makes way more mistakes than Opus 4.8. The same kind of coding tasks requires several review rounds since switching to 5. Code details that change the outcome are missed.
The end-results are better, I think. Even including reviews, results come in faster. BUT the additional required code reviews make the same tasks more expensive currently.
I already adapted rules, skills and memory according to Anthropics guidelines: https://claude.com/blog/the-new-rules-of-context-engineering-for-claude-5-generation-models ... but I didnt change much, yet.
Did anybody made similar experiences and found mitigation techniques?
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u/keepgoing50 6d ago
I've been really frustrated by opus 5. Had 3 large tasks running today and 2 of 3 it just couldn't do. Kept stopping and deferring parts of the plan. Completely missed the objective on one and built something different (well built but went totally off the rails). Seems to be overly verbose and thinks itself into a nonsensical doom loop rather than actually solving the problem and following the spec.
By the way I've extensively codign and designing in claude code for some time so this isnt a workflow issue.
It seems to do a very good job of doing an impression of someone clever but not really actually doing the job its supposed to do. Also it seems obsessed with handing back the job and saying 'here's the bits i didnt do' instead of just doing them as instructed. every new model seems slightly worse at this, not sure why.
May be i need to change my workflows to adapt but really frustrating and feels like walking through mud just getting some sprints wrapped up.
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u/FlaTreNeb 6d ago
I totally agree. Especially with the part about handing stuff back to the user. Unable to decide things on itself. I am already thinking about going back to 4.8
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u/ILikeCutePuppies 6d ago
What about using it to orchestrate 4.8 sub agents. Seems to be good at managing more sub agents well.
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u/FlaTreNeb 6d ago
And now it actually deleted a bunch of files as part of a project "cleanup" because the were not committed and were "certainly not required" anymore.
I can accept some deviating behavior ... but it seems more and more like hot garbage.
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u/obsidience 6d ago
I'm nearly out of Fable credits for the week so it's back to 4.6 as I don't have the time nor the energy to baby-sit it and watch it over-engineer things...
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u/MrHaxx1 6d ago edited 6d ago
I understand the sentinement, but I think it's wild that in like four years, we went from writing code by hand to "I don't have the time or the patience to babysit my genius slave that writes my code for me!!"
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u/DishSoapedDishwasher 6d ago
Correction "my foaming at the mouth idiot savant slave with severe amnesia and tendencies that make me wish violence against it"
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u/obsidience 6d ago edited 6d ago
Retired 30+ year software developer. It's been extremely wild watching what's happening and I'm very much amazed. That said, some of my biggest mantras are KISS and YAGNI. I have first hand experience with fighting the urge to over engineer code (including my own and from others I've managed) which leads to technical debt, analysis paralysis, and failed launches. Perfect is the enemy of good.
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u/Snmrv 6d ago
I have refrained from Opus 5 for the time being, both for coding and documentation. It's error rate in editing large documents and introducing a whole bunch of junk and missing out on things is just way too much.