Claude Prompts
20 raw prompt templates you drag into Claude and fill in the [brackets]. No fluff, no preamble — just the prompt the AI sees. I built these after spending way too long getting vague answers and realizing the problem was always my prompt, not the model.
How to use
- Open the prompt you need
- Copy it into your chat (or drag the
.mdfile in)- Replace every
[bracket]with your actual details- That’s it
Debugging & Fixing
| Prompt | Use when… |
|---|---|
| 01-stop-the-spiral | AI is looping and speculating instead of giving you one thing to try. |
| 03-teach-me | You want to understand the why, not just get a fix pasted at you. |
| 14-make-it-faster | Something is slow and you need targeted fixes, not guesswork. |
| 20-fix-this-error | You have a stack trace or error message and need it decoded and solved. |
Building & Creating
| Prompt | Use when… |
|---|---|
| 05-build-step-by-step | Building something complex in testable stages, not a wall of code. |
| 12-automate-this | You have a repetitive manual task and want a script to handle it. |
| 15-design-the-api | You need endpoints, request/response shapes, and error formats designed. |
| 17-project-scaffold | Starting from zero — folder structure, configs, and a working hello world. |
Review & Quality
| Prompt | Use when… |
|---|---|
| 04-review-my-work | Code review, doc review, config review. Honest, specific feedback only. |
| 06-refactor-this | Code works but it’s ugly. Clean it up without changing behavior. |
| 07-write-tests | You need real tests — happy path, edge cases, failures — ready to run. |
| 13-security-check | Audit code or config for real vulnerabilities. No generic advice. |
Thinking & Deciding
| Prompt | Use when… |
|---|---|
| 02-context-dump | Any question about your setup. Paste env details so AI skips the guessing. |
| 09-pick-the-right-approach | Choosing between options and you need a clear recommendation with tradeoffs. |
| 16-rubber-duck | You’re stuck and need to think out loud before jumping to a solution. |
Writing & Shipping
| Prompt | Use when… |
|---|---|
| 08-explain-this-codebase | You landed in unfamiliar code and need a teammate-style walkthrough. |
| 10-write-the-docs | You need real documentation — quickstart, params, pitfalls — not filler. |
| 11-convert-migrate | Porting code between languages or frameworks idiomatically. |
| 18-write-the-commit | You need a commit message or PR description that respects the reviewer’s time. |
| 19-deploy-checklist | About to push to prod. Pre-deploy checklist, rollback plan, verification. |
Tips
- Stack them — Start a session with 02-context-dump, then use other prompts as needed. Claude remembers context within a conversation.
- Be specific in the brackets — “my Python script” loses to “my FastAPI endpoint at
/api/usersthat queries PostgreSQL”. More context = less back-and-forth.- Iterate — These prompts get you a strong first reply. The real power is in the follow-ups.
- Works with local models too — I use simpler versions of these with Ollama and Open WebUI. The structured prompts help smaller models stay focused.
See Also
- Running LLMs Locally with Ollama — for when you want to run prompts locally
- Open WebUI — custom system prompts per model, same idea as these templates