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AI Agent Super Prompt

Outcome: You'll build effective prompts that get quality output from Claude.

Talk Like a Human​

The biggest mistake people make with AI? They try to sound like a computer.

Don't do this:

"Generate a comprehensive analysis of market trends incorporating quantitative metrics and qualitative assessments."

Do this:

"Hey, I need to understand what's happening in this market. Can you look at the trends and give me something I can present to my team? Like, what are the numbers showing, but also what's the vibe?"

Claude understands natural language. You can:

  • Spitball ideas
  • Change your mind mid-sentence
  • Say "actually, wait, I meant..."
  • Use filler words

Talk to it like you'd talk to a smart colleague. That's the mental model.

The Super Prompt Pattern​

For any substantial task, structure your prompt like this:

[What you want done]

[Shift + Enter for new line]

Here's context: [paste file path]

[Shift + Enter]

Write the output to: [paste output file path]

[Shift + Enter]

Make a comprehensive to-do list for yourself to complete this task.

Keyboard shortcut: Press Shift + Enter to add a new line without sending the message.

Example Super Prompt​

I need you to create a competitive analysis for the marketing automation platforms we're evaluating. Focus on the four criteria Shannon mentioned.

Here's the transcript from our meeting with her: /Users/me/Documents/transcripts/shannon-call.md

Write your analysis to: /Users/me/Documents/projects/marketing-eval/analysis.md

Make a comprehensive to-do list for yourself. Research each platform online and include evidence and sources.

What happens:

  1. Claude reads the transcript for context
  2. Creates a to-do list (research Platform A, research Platform B, etc.)
  3. Does web research on each platform
  4. Writes a formatted analysis to your specified file
  5. Includes sources and evidence

Attaching Context​

The more relevant context you give, the better the output.

Ways to attach context:

  1. Single file: Right-click → Copy Path → paste in prompt
  2. Multiple files: Copy multiple paths, paste each on its own line
  3. Entire folder: Copy the folder path (Claude will scan it)

What makes good context:

  • Meeting transcripts
  • Previous documents on the topic
  • Reference materials
  • Examples of the output format you want
Token Awareness

Remember, every file you attach gets read into your 200,000 token window. A 50-page document = ~15,000 tokens. If you're attaching multiple large files, you're using up context fast. Be intentional about what you include—more isn't always better.

The To-Do List Request​

Always end complex prompts with:

"Make a comprehensive to-do list for yourself."

Why this works:

  • Forces Claude to plan before acting
  • Makes the work visible to you
  • Creates checkpoints you can monitor
  • Produces more thorough results

You can watch Claude check off items as it works. If it misses something, you can ask it to revisit.

Hands-On: Build a Super Prompt​

Task: Create a research document from any source material you have.

  1. Find a document you have (notes, transcript, article, anything)
  2. Right-click → Copy Path
  3. Create a blank output file: research-output.md
  4. Copy its path
  5. Build this prompt:
I want you to analyze [describe the document] and create a summary with key insights.

Here's the source material: [paste source path]

Write the output to: [paste output path]

Make a comprehensive to-do list for yourself.
  1. Press Enter and watch

Observe: Did Claude make a to-do list? Is it checking things off? How does the output compare to what you'd write manually?