Attention Factory · The Claude Files

Thirty
Claude Codes

The cheat sheet for pulling 10x sharper answers out of Claude. Thirty short phrases you drop into any prompt, each one with an example you can copy tonight.

How to use them

Every code is just a phrase you add to your prompt. Put it at the start or the end, then ask your real question. Example: Truth mode. followed by what you actually want to know. That's the whole trick.

A guide by Mercy Thaddeus · mercythaddeus.xyz · Attention Factory

Get the truth

When you need Claude to stop being polite and start being useful.

Truth mode

Claude stops trying to please you and tells you what it actually thinks, even when it stings.

Truth mode. Here's my business plan, is it any good or am I kidding myself?

BEST FOR Gut-checking ideas you're attached to

/honest

Drops the diplomatic hedging and gives you the blunt version it would say with nothing to lose.

/honest. Is this resume getting me interviews or quietly killing them?

BEST FOR Feedback you suspect people are softening

/confess

Before you trust an answer, Claude rates its own confidence and flags exactly where it guessed.

Answer this, then confess how sure you are and where you're unsure.

BEST FOR Research and facts you plan to act on

Red team

Claude attacks your plan from every angle a sharp critic would, so you find the holes before they find you.

Red team this launch plan. Tear it apart.

BEST FOR Pitches, plans, and big decisions

Steelman

Claude builds the strongest version of the argument against you, which is the fastest way to find where your logic is soft.

Steelman the other side of: remote work beats the office.

BEST FOR Testing a belief you hold strongly

Pre-mortem

Claude pretends your plan already failed, then works backwards to tell you why, while you can still fix it.

Pre-mortem this. Assume it flopped in six months and tell me why.

BEST FOR Launches, partnerships, anything risky

Think sharper

Codes that upgrade how Claude reasons through a problem with you.

First principles

Claude throws out the recycled advice and rebuilds the answer from what is actually true.

Break this down from first principles. How do I actually grow an audience?

BEST FOR When every answer online sounds the same

Ultrathink

Add it to the end and Claude spends much longer reasoning before it answers. Taps Claude's extended thinking.

Should I take the offer or stay? Ultrathink.

BEST FOR Complex tradeoffs with no obvious answer

Step back

Before answering, Claude tells you the better question you should be asking instead.

Step back first. What should I really be asking before I pick a niche?

BEST FOR When you're stuck on the wrong problem

Assumptions

Claude lists every hidden assumption baked into your question before it responds.

List the assumptions in my plan before you answer.

BEST FOR Spotting the shaky ground under a decision

OODA

Claude runs your decision through the Observe, Orient, Decide, Act loop and tells you the move.

Run my pricing decision through OODA.

BEST FOR Fast decisions under pressure

Decision matrix

Claude scores your options against weighted criteria so the choice stops being a vibe.

Put these three cities in a weighted decision matrix for relocating.

BEST FOR Choosing between similar options

See what you're missing

Codes for the blind spots you can't catch on your own.

/blind

Claude points out the blind spots you can't see because you're too close to the problem.

/blind. What am I missing about this content strategy?

BEST FOR Work you've stared at too long

/mirror

Claude reflects back who it thinks you are, based on everything you've said in the chat.

/mirror. From this whole conversation, who do you think I am?

BEST FOR A sharp outside read on yourself

Unlearn

Claude names the things you probably believe about a topic that are actually wrong.

Unlearn. What do most people get wrong about saving money?

BEST FOR Clearing bad assumptions before you learn

Counterfactual

Claude walks you through exactly what changes if one key thing were different.

Counterfactual: what changes if I had no budget for ads?

BEST FOR Stress-testing a plan against reality

Insights

Claude pulls the non-obvious patterns out of your data or situation that you'd skim past.

Insights. Here are my last 30 days of expenses, find the patterns.

BEST FOR Numbers, habits, anything with hidden trends

Future self

Claude answers as you, ten years from now, looking back at this moment.

Answer as my future self in 10 years. Should I start the business now?

BEST FOR Decisions clouded by short-term fear

Learn and level up

Codes that turn Claude into the teacher you wish you had.

ELI5

Claude explains anything like you're five, perfect for the stuff that usually needs an expert to translate.

ELI5 how compound interest works.

BEST FOR Tax, contracts, jargon, anything dense

Socrates

Instead of handing you the answer, Claude teaches by asking you questions until it clicks.

Socrates. Teach me how the stock market works, ask me questions.

BEST FOR Actually remembering what you learn

Expert mode

Claude answers at the level of a top expert and assumes you can keep up, no dumbing down.

Answer at expert level, assume I know the basics. How does SEO really work?

BEST FOR When ELI5 is too slow for you

Lindy

Claude gives you the time-tested approach that has worked for decades, not the trend of the week.

Lindy mode. What's the proven way to get fit, ignore the hype?

BEST FOR Cutting through fads

80-20

Claude shows you the small slice of effort that drives most of the result.

80-20. What few things actually move the needle on weight loss?

BEST FOR When you're overwhelmed by options

Rubric

Claude builds a scoring rubric, then grades your work against it honestly.

Create a rubric for a strong cover letter, then score mine.

BEST FOR Improving anything you can measure

Make it and ship it

Codes for turning Claude into your writer, editor, and builder.

Claude gives you three completely different versions of the same thing so you pick the best.

D3. Write a message asking my boss for a raise.

BEST FOR Messages, captions, anything tone-sensitive

/human

Claude rewrites stiff, robotic text so it reads like a person actually wrote it.

/human. Rewrite this email so it sounds like me, not a template.

BEST FOR Making AI drafts sound natural

Compress

Claude cuts the fluff and gives you the essential version, down to a line if you want.

Compress this into one tweet without losing the point.

BEST FOR Tightening long, rambly text

Persona

Claude rewrites your message for a specific reader so it actually lands.

Rewrite this pitch for a busy CEO who skims.

BEST FOR Matching the message to the audience

Template

Claude turns a one-off piece of work into a reusable template you can fill in forever.

Turn this proposal into a blank template I can reuse.

BEST FOR Anything you do more than once

Artifacts

Claude builds a working app, tool, or dashboard live in the chat while you watch. Uses Claude's Artifacts feature.

Build this as an artifact: a budget calculator I can actually use.

BEST FOR Turning an idea into something usable

That's all thirty.

Start with three or four that fit what you're working on this week. Once they're muscle memory, the rest will follow.

Save this. Steal from it. Send it to the friend who still types one-line prompts.

Mercy Thaddeus · Attention Factory · attentionfactory.io