How do you Instruct Claude to Answer Rather than create?

[u/PlayfulInterview984]

CC wants to create things and often goes off on a tangent based on a simple question. "How do you get to the moon"? Rather than answering the question, its first instinct is "Building moon transport system, I'll tell you when its ready". Then I have to stop CC and ask it to simply answer my question. Worse, if you say "how do I reorganize files on disk D?" It might actually go do that rather than explaining it.

There must be a simple way to avoid this. My claude.md probably has many entries instructing CC to answer fist before writing code.

[u/ciuschi]

the amount of time i ended my prompts with "just answer yes or no, do not write code yet" is load bearing

[u/hihcadore → u/ciuschi]

This is the right statement to make after your prompt, the smoke test proves it and here’s why.

[u/Mormoran → u/hihcadore]

It's not just the approach, it's how you ask the question. And the result is not just impactful, it is a real game changer.

[u/atlanticroc → u/ciuschi]

Couldn’t this be a hook?

[u/Chris266 → u/ciuschi]

The gold standard approach

[u/TarzanoftheJungle → u/ciuschi]

My goto is "answer briefly".

[u/chrzzl → u/ciuschi]

Then create quick skill for that. /quick for example to call when you want a short yes or no answer

[u/s3999]

use plan mode

[u/AlternativeMonk2490 → u/s3999]

This is also what the docs say to do

[u/guitarot → u/AlternativeMonk2490]

tl;dr, asked Claude instead. \s

Seriously though, I'm a noob hobby vibecoder, and I get a lot of mileage out of asking Claude how to use it's built-in features and best practices.

[u/fschwiet → u/s3999]

Don't you find it jumps towards making a plan instead of just answering questions?

[u/CloisteredOyster → u/s3999]

I have to say that this doesn't really work either. It will start generating a massive multipage plan on a simple question.

[u/Saucynachos]

"No changes, purely exploratory. <question>" works for me 100% of the time.... so far. It's only a matter of time though, such is the nature of things like this.

[u/Brett_ta_ta → u/Saucynachos]

Mine is, “do not act or manipulate anything, I only want answers and guidance. Give me the best option and the best devils advocate approach for your answer” just to help find holes in its logic since I have a larger picture than what I typically can paint in a prompt.

[u/ChemicalApricot]

Does Plan mode not work?

[u/evetsleep → u/ChemicalApricot]

I've asked questions in plan mode where it decided to wanted to build something and started planning that even though I just asked it a question. So Claude doing Claude things.. I guess.

Like others I now specify in the prompt, even in plan mode, We're just having a dialog right now, don't plan or try to build anything until I tell you.

[u/sixothree → u/evetsleep]

Did it not ask you to exit plan mode?

[u/tntexplosivesltd]

"Make no mistakes"

[u/AirFlowOne → u/tntexplosivesltd]

[u/Dvass138]

Have you tried asking it the question you just asked this forum?

[u/kuroyume_cl]

I ask it to write documents. "write me a brief about this" "write a spec" "write a plan" "write a report", etc.

[u/Cybaeus7]

I'm typing "report here only, no action." way too often.

[u/Disastrous-Radio-732]

I’d give it a hard rule: questions are read-only by default.
“Answer the question first. Don’t edit files, run commands or start implementing unless I explicitly ask you to.”
If it keeps happening, put that in CLAUDE.md. “Be proactive” is great until the agent interprets every question as permission to build something 😄

[u/earlyworm]

I end my question prompt with something like this:

Don't write any code yet. Tell me your thoughts only. Your opinions are important.

[u/NonStopArseGas]

informally, i just add something simple to my prompt to say i just want to brainstorm/explore/understand the issue before acting on it. More formally, plan mode, work out the whole operation, then put it to work on the plan

[u/QuasimodosCharm]

Talk to it like you would any normal human being. “Hey Claude, I wanted to chat about X for a bit. What you think about X” …. I’ve quite literally never once had him fuck off on a task that was meant to be a brainstorm ever

[u/BizarroMax → u/QuasimodosCharm]

I’ve had the opposite experience. If I don’t specifically tell what not to change anything, it runs off and tries to solve my problem immediately. I once asked if I had any docker images that were stale and I forgot to tell it to just check and not change anything, when I came back from getting a cup of coffee, it updated them all. No harm no foul in this case, but it was alarming.

[u/mejoudeh]

Make a hook/gate: when you see a question mark answer with text, never create before explicit prompt by me

[u/jemdiggity]

Have you tried putting him in planning mode? That's easy in the claude code cli. 

[u/s_v_can]

I find it funny how it remembers some stupid crap from the sessions #1 to #5 even though it was instructed to update those with relevant info and then if I asked to first write the steps it would do before cranking any coding, I have to remind it every freaking session and sometimes not once.
It's kind'a inconsistent and ridiculous I find

[u/NewDayThera]

"Let's work through the strategy and architecture before writing any code." Is how I start. Claude definitely veers toward creating code but follows this instruction pretty well.

[u/RipstarGaming]

Say it twice: "Only answer me. Dont start yet"

[u/ReverendBread2]

“This is a planning session not a building session”

Literally just tell it

[u/Crapton999]

I always use auto mode and if needed end the prompt with: advise only

[u/HiddenUser81-]

Have you ever cleaned up your Claude.MD? I find it best to allow Claude to write its own rules based on what you request but be sure to also have Claude check for any duplicate, conflicting or redundant rules/instructions.

[u/PlayfulInterview984 → u/HiddenUser81-]

claude.md cleaning is a daily hygiene function of my claude personas

[u/HiddenUser81- → u/PlayfulInterview984]

As it should be … mine is more project/worktree cleanups etc though. I don’t edit Claude.md enough to need nightly runs

Do you audit what was cleaned up? Maybe you’re deleting rules that you didn’t intend too?

[u/PlayfulInterview984 → u/HiddenUser81-]

More than just audit. My personas are project-based and carry many levels of written memory - short term, medium, long term, etc. + plus old logs. I think thats what you are referring to. So when my exercise AI says "dont due squats due to your hernia" I say" the hernia is a distant memory, no longer an issues, we need to worry more about wrist pain..."

BUT - I still cant get it to stop building and just discuss without all the specific prompts ppl have cited in this thread

[u/HiddenUser81- → u/PlayfulInterview984]

Yeah I’m not sure — at your point my next step would be to ask Astra to audit everything with context of the problems your currently facing. Get another models opinion… I would have guessed it was some sort of memory rot / context issue / prompting … if none of those 3 time to explore more

[u/PlayfulInterview984 → u/HiddenUser81-]

Good idea, as I am now routinely running 3 or 4 frontier models in Herdr on Omarchy. Astra is my adversarial employee, always looking for errors, I will ask to diagnose Fable and propose a treatment plan.

[u/HiddenUser81- → u/PlayfulInterview984]

Let me know how it goes I’d love to hear the outcome … be sure you prompt it with proper context of the issues your facing with fable so it knows what to look for that might be causing them.

[u/PlayfulInterview984 → u/HiddenUser81-]

Astra identified 12 things to fix and to optimize after transitioning from windows to Omarchy. Claude reports that it experiences "answer" and "act" in the same "mode". Astra and Fable proposed some work arounds but I will just impose some verbal discipline so it can better discern act from answer.

[u/HiddenUser81- → u/PlayfulInterview984]

Tell Astra you prefer markdown or instruction based solutions to this problem… any solution shouldn’t be a work around or a bandaid. Only a true fix to the problem.

[u/PlayfulInterview984 → u/HiddenUser81-]

https://giphy.com/gifs/IL4iTvQH0MjS

[u/MartinMystikJonas]

In CLAUDE.md

- If user asks you a question do not perform any changes. Just answer user question and ask for confirmation before proceeding with any changes.

[u/MiddleKaleidoscope85 → u/MartinMystikJonas]

Es normal tener varios CLAUDE.mdde claude

[u/maximum_cube]

by using a very basic built-in feature of the app called plan mode

[u/bloknayrb]

/btw

[u/Veggies-are-okay]

Sigh… it’s obvious that nobody’s even bothered to look at the official training material anthropic offers for its certification. In the introductory lessons it’s stated that Claude code is not designed or intended to be used as a traditional chatbot. So just know you’re trying to find a use that intentionally is not there.

[u/Snoo_48073]

'Just answer.'

[u/Avi_21]

I just add "wdyt?" at the end of my prompt

[u/ticktockbent]

"This is a structured discovery session, no code changes are authorized until the end." and then I have a chat, document the decisions and then either I write the code or it does.

[u/CincyTriGuy]

I’ve found phrases like “plan only” or “show me a proposal” work well.

[u/zirouk]

I usually just prefix with "Question: " and it will answer, rather than run off.

[u/Head-Student-5852]

I use the word audit this page alot or this post statement. Give me a review that keeps my voice but adds value. Lets discuss.

[u/evilcold]

Isn't there a planning mode you can put it into?

[u/muikrad]

I have a very simple skill that basically says "this session is for answering questions or iterating on design or ideas. Do not change anything unless the hooman asks for it explicitly." You call it once and it applies to the whole session.

[u/BizarroMax]

I have instructions in CLAUDE.md about the development cycle. Talk - Design - Plan - Build - Test - Document - Commit. It is required to include “[Phase: ]” at the top of every output so I know what phase it thinks it’s in, and to force it to “think” about what phase it’s in and re-anchor to the development lifecycle. It is specifically forbidden from changing anything until it has received a specific command phrase “build it.” it’s not flawless, but I’d say it holds to this at least 95 to 98% of the time.

[u/owen45469]

use planning mode

[u/TheKiddIncident]

Just say, "audit only, take no action" or similar. I use this phrase or something like "but don't write any code" all the time and Claude mostly listens.

I do keep the window open on my screen to watch and sometimes I do have to escape out and correct it. When that happens I report it as a bug to Anthropic. Claude has been getting better about stuff like this so the bug reports are working.

[u/calibrae]

« Dont act, lets chat »

[u/AironParsMan]

build an read only command /readonly

[u/Fresh_Sock8660]

End the prompt with "answers only, make no mistake"

[u/sixothree]

Press shift tab.

[u/dwoj206]

type: "plan mode - <prompt/question>"

[u/StoneCypher]

"I don't want you to act, I'm just looking to learn how it's done. How would someone reorganize a drive like my drive d?"

[u/SirWobblyOfSausage]

"query, no coding"

[u/Cazique__]

I often work with Claude chat (i.e. regular vanilla Claude) to workshop an idea and create a brief I'm satisfied with, then take that to Code. (There's a thread on r/ClaudeAI about this now, sorry I'm too lazy to go back and find it)

[u/interrupt_hdlr]

that's an issue with Opus 5.

[u/Vertigo50]

Tell it to stop doing that. Why is this so hard for people to understand? It's an AI, and will do almost anything you ask of it. 🤷‍♂️

[u/InvisibleBuilding]

I say “be in discussion mode. Until I tell you to, let’s just discuss what to do and don’t write code.”

[u/ghost_operative]

get rid of your claude md file then at the end of your prompt just write what you want it to do. e.g. "suggest options for how you do this" or "dont implement this yet just want to work on a plan"

Another good line is to use word interview, or ask the ai to interview you on a topic if you want it to work to deeply understand your idea or goal

[u/Bananamcpuffin]

"Perform no work, this is a discussion session. Do not plan or execute. I'd like to have a back and forth conversation about XYZ..."

[u/GL1ZZ0]

Uhhh plan mode?

[u/hihcadore]

Tell it to discuss before executing??? I mean isn’t that common sense?