These aren't hidden features. There's no secret menu, nothing to switch on, and nobody at Anthropic built them. Each one is a single word that stands in for an instruction you'd otherwise type out in full, which is why they're worth having. Typing one word is faster than typing the paragraph it replaces, so you'll actually do it.
How to use one: type the word, a colon, then your request.
PREMORTEM: launching my first product.That's the entire mechanic. It works in a fresh chat, it works on your phone, and it works whether you write the word in capitals or not.
Stack two when one isn't enough
The codes aren't exclusive, so you can put two in front of the same question and get both passes in one answer. Attack and defend at once, for instance.
SKEPTIC + STEELMAN: my pricing plan.The plus sign isn't required by anything, because nothing is parsing this. It's there so you can tell two codes apart from one code that happens to be two words, and a lot of these are two words.
The forty
Sorted into ten families. The number beside each family is how many codes are in it, which is lopsided on purpose. Some of these do a lot of work and some are a single trick.
Thinking and reasoning 9
- BLINDSPOTS surfaces what you're missing
- INVERT flips to what makes this fail
- FIRST PRINCIPLES reasons up from fundamentals
- SECOND ORDER traces downstream consequences
- SKEPTIC challenges your premise
- CRITIQUE critical evaluation mode
- DEVIL devil's advocate
- STEELMAN strongest version of the other side
- CONTRARIAN argues against the obvious
Strategy and analysis 5
- PREMORTEM assume it failed, work out why
- REDTEAM attack the plan for weaknesses
- SWOT strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
- DECISION MATRIX weighted scoring table
- JOBS TO BE DONE the job the customer hires for
Business and sales 7
- ICP GENERATION ideal-customer profile
- OFFER STACKING bundled tiered offer
- PAIN POINT MINING digs out client pains
- VALUE LADDER ascending price rungs
- POSITIONING ENGINE your angle on the market
- COMPETITOR DISSECTION breaks down rivals
- SOP turns advice into a numbered procedure
Role hats 4
- CMO marketing-exec lens
- LAWYER legal and contract lens
- THERAPIST emotional and mindset lens
- COPYWRITER rewrites as persuasive copy
Content and marketing 4
- CTA BANK a batch of call-to-actions
- BEFORE/AFTER transformation framing
- BRAINSTORM expands into an idea list
- CAROUSEL slide-by-slide structure
Writing and tone 3
- CASUAL loosens tone, conversational
- HYPE adds energy and enthusiasm
- COMPRESS shortest, densest version
Coding 3
- REFACTOR cleans up code idiomatically
- TESTIT writes tests
- OPTIMIZE rewrites for performance
Explaining 2
- ELI5 explain like I'm 5
- ELI-TEN like ELI5, one reading level up
Format 2
- JSON structured output you can parse
- YAML the same, in config-file style
Research 1
- MARKET SIZE refocuses on TAM and sizing figures
Where this came from
There's a deck of these that goes around Instagram claiming 100 or 180 secret codes, and most of it's padding. Whole sections of it are the same idea renamed, and a tier at the bottom promises to unlock a mode that doesn't exist. I went through the full list and kept the forty that actually change what comes back.
The ones that survived are mostly about reasoning and honesty, plus a handful that just control the shape of the answer. That's the real pattern here. Nothing on this page makes the model smarter, it just stops you getting the generic version.
