The Four Ingredients of a Prompt That Doesn't Need a Redo
Compare "add a calendar widget" to: "look at how existing widgets are
implemented on the home page — HotDogWidget.php is a good example —
and build a calendar widget following that pattern, without new
libraries."
Which ingredient does the improved version add?
The correct answer is "An example to imitate, alongside criteria and constraints."
Pointing at HotDogWidget.php as "a good example" is exactly the
"reference existing patterns" ingredient this subject calls out,
alongside the negative constraint ("without new libraries"). Neither
version asks Claude to write its own tests, the improvement isn't
about making the prompt shorter (it's actually longer and more
specific), and neither version mentions plan mode at all — that's a
separate, orthogonal decision.
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