4 ms·

> Whenever the phrase "simplest fix" appears, it's time to pull the emergency break. Second! In CLAUDE.md, I have a full section NOT to ever do this, and how t

> Whenever the phrase "simplest fix" appears, it's time to pull the emergency break. Second! In CLAUDE.md, I have a full section NOT to ever do this, and how to ACTUALLY fix something. This has helped enormously.

bowersbros 6mo ago
Any chance you could share those sections of your claude file? I've been using Claude a bit lately but mostly with manual changes, not got much in the way of the claude file yet and interested in how to improve it
- onlyrealcuzzo 6mo ago
  https://github.com/cuzzo/easy-vm/blob/master/CLAUDE.md https://github.com/cuzzo/easy-vm/blob/master/CLAUDE.md
  - LeoPanthera 6mo ago
    Typo - "proove". "Prove" only has one O.
    - onlyrealcuzzo 6mo ago
      Thank you!
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
talim 6mo ago
What wording do you use for this, if you don't mind? This thread is a revelation, I have sworn that I've seen it do this "wait... the simplest fix is to [use some horrible hack that disregards the spec]" much more often lately so I'm glad it's not just me. However I'm not sure how to best prompt against that behavior without influencing it towards swinging the other way and looking for the most intentionally overengineered solutions instead...
- twalichiewicz 6mo ago
  My own experience has been that you really just have to be diligent about clearing your cache between tasks, establishing a protocol for research/planning, and for especially complicated implementations reading line-by-line what the system is thinking and interrupting the moment it seems to be going bad. If it's really far off the mark, revert back to where you originally sent the prompt and try to steer it more, if it's starting to hesitate you can usually correct it without starting over.
  - aforwardslash 6mo ago
    That is generically my experience as well. Claude half-assing work or skipping stuff because "takes too much time" is something I've been experiencing since I started using it (May 2025). Forcing it to create and review and implementation plan, and then reviewing the implementation cross-referenced with the plan almost always produces consistent results in my case.
- imiric 6mo ago
  Make sure to use "PRETTY PLEASE" in all caps in your `SOUL.md`. And occasionally remind it that kittens are going to die unless it cooperates. Works wonders.
  - mghackerlady 6mo ago
    I love how despite how cold and inhuman LLMs are, we've at least taught them to respect the lives of kittens
  - KaoruAoiShiho 6mo ago
    Can you paste the relevant section in your soul please?
    - imiric 6mo ago
      Sure, as soon as I locate my soul.
- 6mo ago
causal 6mo ago
I switched from Cursor to Claude because the limits are so much higher but I see Anthropic playing a lot more games to limit token use
- rachel_rig 6mo ago
  [flagged]
aktenlage 6mo ago
Where is that? I found "Return the simplest working solution. No over-engineering." which sounds more like the simplest fix.

bowersbros 6mo ago

Any chance you could share those sections of your claude file? I've been using Claude a bit lately but mostly with manual changes, not got much in the way of the claude file yet and interested in how to improve it

onlyrealcuzzo 6mo ago
https://github.com/cuzzo/easy-vm/blob/master/CLAUDE.md https://github.com/cuzzo/easy-vm/blob/master/CLAUDE.md
- LeoPanthera 6mo ago
  Typo - "proove". "Prove" only has one O.
  - onlyrealcuzzo 6mo ago
    Thank you!
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]

talim 6mo ago

What wording do you use for this, if you don't mind? This thread is a revelation, I have sworn that I've seen it do this "wait... the simplest fix is to [use some horrible hack that disregards the spec]" much more often lately so I'm glad it's not just me. However I'm not sure how to best prompt against that behavior without influencing it towards swinging the other way and looking for the most intentionally overengineered solutions instead...

twalichiewicz 6mo ago
My own experience has been that you really just have to be diligent about clearing your cache between tasks, establishing a protocol for research/planning, and for especially complicated implementations reading line-by-line what the system is thinking and interrupting the moment it seems to be going bad. If it's really far off the mark, revert back to where you originally sent the prompt and try to steer it more, if it's starting to hesitate you can usually correct it without starting over.
- aforwardslash 6mo ago
  That is generically my experience as well. Claude half-assing work or skipping stuff because "takes too much time" is something I've been experiencing since I started using it (May 2025). Forcing it to create and review and implementation plan, and then reviewing the implementation cross-referenced with the plan almost always produces consistent results in my case.
imiric 6mo ago
Make sure to use "PRETTY PLEASE" in all caps in your `SOUL.md`. And occasionally remind it that kittens are going to die unless it cooperates. Works wonders.
- mghackerlady 6mo ago
  I love how despite how cold and inhuman LLMs are, we've at least taught them to respect the lives of kittens
- KaoruAoiShiho 6mo ago
  Can you paste the relevant section in your soul please?
  - imiric 6mo ago
    Sure, as soon as I locate my soul.
6mo ago

causal 6mo ago

I switched from Cursor to Claude because the limits are so much higher but I see Anthropic playing a lot more games to limit token use

rachel_rig 6mo ago
[flagged]

aktenlage 6mo ago

Where is that? I found "Return the simplest working solution. No over-engineering." which sounds more like the simplest fix.