Claude 已经推出两年了。大多数每天使用它的人,仍然只用了它能力的 10%。
不是因为它复杂。而是因为没有人向他们展示另外 90% 是什么样子。
这份指南会解决这个问题。到最后,你将以一种能够记住你、理解你,并按照你实际思维方式工作的方式设置好 Claude。而且你将知道如何用它去做大多数人从未尝试过的事情。
从这里开始
1 - 创建一个 Project(项目),而不是聊天
每次你打开一个新的 Claude 聊天时,它都会从零记忆开始。它不知道你的名字、你的工作、你的目标,或者你喜欢怎样沟通。你会在前几条消息里不断重新解释自己;或者你不这么做,然后 Claude 给你的就是一些通用化的内容,并不符合你实际的工作方式。
Projects(项目) 可以解决这个问题。Project(项目) 是一个持久化工作空间,Claude 会在其中的每一次对话之间保留上下文。你只需要设置一次,之后的每次会话开始时,Claude 就已经知道你是谁。
前往 Claude,点击侧边栏中的 Projects,并创建一个新的项目。根据你的使用方式,将它命名为类似“工作”或“个人”的名称。接下来所有内容都放在这个 Project 里面。
2 - 告诉 Claude 你是谁
在 Claude 能很好地帮助你之前,它需要先理解你。大多数人完全跳过了这一步,然后疑惑为什么 Claude 给出的回答总感觉有一点不对劲。
将以下内容粘贴到你的 Project 中,并诚实地填写每一个字段。你越具体,每一条回复都会变得越好。
把这些内容保存在你的 Project 知识库中。Claude 会在这个 Project 的每次对话开始时读取它。
3 - 将其转换为自定义指令
粘贴你的背景信息是一个不错的开始。但自定义指令更进一步。它们不仅告诉 Claude 你是谁,还告诉它默认情况下应该如何与你互动。
将此提示粘贴到 Claude 中,并在上方填写好模板后使用:
获取输出后,将其粘贴到你的 Project Instructions 中。这将成为 Claude 在此项目中每次对话的永久运行模式。
Claude 并不是你以为的那样
4 - Claude 不是搜索引擎
大多数人使用 Claude 的方式,就像他们使用 Google 一样。他们输入一个问题,然后等待一个答案。这是使用它价值最低的方式。
Claude 不是一个检索工具。它是一个思维伙伴。它不只是提取信息,它还会进行推理、综合、论证,并基于上下文构建内容。当你把它当作搜索引擎来使用的那一刻,你就削减了它 80% 的价值。
不要再问 Claude 某个东西是什么。开始让 Claude 帮助你思考某件事。
不要这样问:"什么是 prompt caching?"
试试这样问:"我正在构建一个工作流,在每个会话中调用 Claude 20 次。请带我理解 prompt caching 是如何工作的,以及在这种上下文下,它是否真的能降低我的成本。"
第二种提示给了 Claude 一个需要与你一起解决的问题。第一种则只是让它复述一个定义。
5 - 先让 Claude 向你提问
这是几乎没人使用、但却最强大的技巧之一。在 Claude 开始任何复杂任务之前,先让它从你这里收集信息。
当 Claude 在开始之前先向你提问时,输出结果会显著更好,因为它建立在正确的基础之上。否则,Claude 会自行做出假设,而你则需要花时间纠正那些本可以一开始就正确的内容。
在任何重要任务之前,都使用这个:
或者用于某个特定任务:
即使普通用户也不知道的事
6 - 风格克隆
当 Claude 在没有示例的情况下模仿你的语气写作时,它写出来的是它自己的语气。输出在语法上是正确的,但在语调上完全错误。它听起来像 AI,因为它本来就是。给 Claude 提供三到五个你自己的写作样本。让它分析你的模式,而不仅仅是描述你的风格。在完成那种分析之后,它写出来的会像你,而不是像一个精致的企业助手。
7 - 把 Claude 当作你的陪练伙伴
大多数人让 Claude 帮他们想点子。这意味着 Claude 会基于你说的话进行构建、补充和扩展。你得到的是认同和展开说明。
这有时候是有用的。
但这不是你对一个想法进行压力测试的方式。
在决定任何计划、决策或一篇文章之前,让 Claude 去攻击它。
不是批评它。
是攻击它。
这种区别很重要。
8 - 扩展思考
大多数 Claude 用户从来没有开启过这个功能。
扩展思考是一种模式,在这种模式下,Claude 会在给你答案之前一步一步地推理问题,而不是直接给出输出。
对于简单任务,你不需要它。
对于复杂决策、分析,或者任何你希望 Claude 真正思考而不是模式匹配的问题,请开启它。
在 Claude 中,在发送消息之前点击大脑图标。
或者在你的提示词中添加这个:
困难问题上的输出质量差异是显著的。
9 - Claude 为 Claude 编写提示词
这是你能做但最少被使用的事情。
如果你不确定该如何为某个特定任务向 Claude 编写提示词,就让 Claude 为你写提示词。
Claude 知道什么样的指令会产生更好的结果。
让它利用这些知识为你服务。
如何花费更少 Token 并获得更多
10 - 指定输出长度
Claude 的默认行为是写出它认为合适长度的内容
这通常比你实际需要的更多,这意味着会消耗更多 token、花费更多阅读时间,并且输出中会有更多噪音。
在 Claude 开始回答之前,准确告诉它你希望答案有多长。
仅仅这一条指令,就能在大多数任务中减少 40% 到 60% 的 token 使用量,同时不会损失你真正需要的价值。
11 - 去掉前言
每一个 Claude 回复默认都会以一些你并没有要求的内容开头。
“好问题。让我为你拆解一下。”
或者完整重复一遍你刚刚说的话。
或者一个免责声明。
或者一个结尾总结,把它刚刚告诉你的一切再重复一遍。
You didn't ask for any of that. It costs tokens and it wastes your time. Add this to your Custom Instructions: 12 - Don't re-explain yourself every conversation If you're pasting the same background information into every new chat, you are wasting tokens every single time and training yourself into a habit that costs you more as Claude usage scales. This is exactly what Projects and Custom Instructions are for. Put your context in once. Let Claude read it automatically at the start of every session. Never paste your background again. If you are not using Projects yet, start there before anything else in this article. 13 - Start a new chat for a new topic Claude carries the context of everything said earlier in a conversation. When you switch topics inside a long chat, Claude still has all the previous context loaded. That means more tokens used on every response, slower processing, and context bleed from earlier in the conversation affecting your new topic. When you switch to something unrelated, start a fresh chat inside your Project. You keep the Project memory. You lose the irrelevant baggage. Ready to Use Right Now These are complete prompts you can copy and use immediately. 14 - Understand anything through analogies (Feynman method) Most explanations Claude gives by default are technically correct and practically useless. They use the same vocabulary as the thing you're trying to understand, which means you walk away with a definition but not actual comprehension. The Feynman method forces understanding through simplicity. If Claude can't explain it in plain terms using analogies, it means the explanation isn't clear enough yet. This prompt works for anything from investing to quantum physics to how a specific API works
15 - 围绕你实际旅行方式构建的旅行计划
大多数旅行规划都是从目的地开始,最后变成一个你在任何旅行博客上都能找到的通用行程。Claude 可以做些不同的事情:围绕你具体的旅行风格、节奏、预算,以及对你真正重要的事情来制定计划,而不是围绕每个“必看景点”清单上的内容。
关键在于给它关于你的真实信息,而不仅仅是日期和地点。
16 - 带有真实结论的月度支出分析
大多数人查看自己的银行账单时,只会对自己的花销隐约感到糟糕,却并不真正理解到底发生了什么。
Claude 可以把原始数字转化为一幅清晰的图景,让你看清你的钱究竟花到了哪里,以及你实际上应该怎么做。
当你粘贴真实数据而不是估算数据时,这效果最好。
17 - Claude 作为你的个人思考伙伴
大多数人的生活中,并没有这样一个人:能够不带评判地倾听、提出正确的问题,并帮助他们理清那些卡住自己的事情,同时不强加自己的立场。
Claude 可以填补这个角色,但前提是你给它正确的指令。
这不是治疗。
这是带有外部视角的结构化自我反思,帮助你更清晰地思考。
18 - 在投入之前,对任何商业想法进行压力测试
大多数商业想法之所以失败,是因为人们在测试之前就爱上了它们。
他们花几个月时间构建一个没人想要的东西,因为他们从未真正诚实地问过:这个想法到底是不是真的好。
Claude 可以充当一个冷酷无情的第一层筛选器。
不是为了扼杀想法,而是在它们浪费你的时间和金钱之前,找出真正的问题。
真正的重点
Claude 并不比你更聪明。
它也没有比你更好的想法。
它所拥有的是无限的耐心、广博的知识,以及从你未曾考虑过的角度思考问题的能力。
从 Claude 获益最多的人,并不是那些提出了最好问题的人。他们是那些已经把它设置为能够理解自己的人,那些给予它真实背景信息的人,以及那些知道如何将它当作合作伙伴,而不是一个发放答案的工具来使用的人。
大多数人会读到这些内容,然后仍然像以前一样打开 Claude。
设置一次。永久改变你的工作方式。
显示英文原文 / Show English Original
Claude has been out for two years. Most people who use it every day are still using 10% of what it can do.
Not because it's complicated. Because nobody showed them what the other 90% looks like. This guide fixes that. By the end you will have Claude set up in a way that remembers you, understands you, and works the way you actually think. And you will know how to use it for things most people have never tried.
Start Here
1 - Create a Project, not a chat Every time you open a new Claude chat, it starts with zero memory. It doesn't know your name, your work, your goals, or how you like to communicate. You spend the first few messages re-explaining yourself, or you don't, and Claude gives you something generic that doesn't fit how you actually work. Projects fix this. A Project is a persistent workspace where Claude keeps context across every conversation inside it. You set it up once and every session that follows starts with Claude already knowing who you are. Go to Claude, click Projects in the sidebar, and create a new one. Name it something like "Work" or "Personal" depending on how you plan to use it. Everything that follows goes inside this Project.
2 - Tell Claude who you are Before Claude can help you well, it needs to understand you. Most people skip this step entirely and wonder why Claude gives them answers that feel slightly off. Paste this into your Project and fill in every field honestly. The more specific you are, the better every single response becomes.
Save this inside your Project's knowledge base. Claude will read it at the start of every conversation in this Project.
3 - Turn that into Custom Instructions Pasting your background is a good start. But Custom Instructions go further. They tell Claude not just who you are, but exactly how to behave with you by default.
Paste this prompt into Claude after you've filled in the template above:
Take the output and paste it into your Project Instructions. This becomes Claude's permanent operating mode for every conversation in this Project.
Claude Is Not What You Think
4 - Claude is not a search engine
Most people use Claude the way they use Google. They type a question and wait for an answer. That is the lowest-value way to use it.
Claude is not a retrieval tool. It is a thinking partner. It doesn't just pull information, it reasons, synthesizes, argues, and builds on context. The moment you treat it like a search engine, you cut its usefulness by 80 percent.
Stop asking Claude what something is. Start asking Claude to help you think through something. Instead of: "What is prompt caching?"
Try: "I'm building a workflow that calls Claude 20 times per session. Walk me through how prompt caching works and whether it would actually reduce my costs given that context."
The second prompt gives Claude a problem to solve with you. The first gives it a definition to recite.
5 - Ask Claude to ask you questions first
This is one of the most powerful techniques almost nobody uses. Before Claude starts any complex task, tell it to gather information from you first.
When Claude asks you questions before starting, the output is dramatically better because it's built on the right foundation. Without this, Claude makes assumptions and you spend time correcting things that could have been right the first time.
Use this before any important task:
Or for a specific task:
What Even Regular Users Don't Know
6 - Style cloning When Claude writes in your voice without examples, it writes in its own voice. The output is grammatically correct and completely wrong in tone. It sounds like AI because it is. Give Claude three to five samples of your own writing. Ask it to analyze your patterns, not just describe your style. After that analysis, it writes like you, not like a polished corporate assistant. 7 - Claude as your sparring partner Most people ask Claude to help them with ideas. That means Claude builds on what you say, adds to it, expands it. You get agreement and elaboration. That is useful sometimes. But it is not how you stress-test an idea. Before committing to any plan, decision, or piece of writing, ask Claude to attack it. Not critique it. Attack it. The distinction matters. 8 - Extended Thinking Most Claude users have never turned this on. Extended Thinking is a mode where Claude reasons through a problem step by step before giving you an answer, instead of going straight to the output. For simple tasks, you don't need it. For complex decisions, analysis, or any question where you want Claude to actually think rather than pattern-match, turn it on. In Claude, click the brain icon before sending your message. Or add this to your prompt: The difference in output quality on hard questions is significant. 9 - Claude writes prompts for Claude This is the most underused thing you can do. If you're not sure how to prompt Claude for a specific task, ask Claude to write the prompt for you. Claude knows what kinds of instructions produce better results. Let it use that knowledge on your behalf. How to Spend Fewer Tokens and Get More 10 - Specify the output length Claude's default is to write as much as it thinks is appropriate That is usually more than you need, which means more tokens used, more time spent reading, and more noise in the output. Tell Claude exactly how long you want the answer before it starts. This one instruction cuts token usage on most tasks by 40 to 60 percent without losing any of the value you actually need. 11 - Remove the preamble Every Claude response defaults to starting with something you didn't ask for. "Great question. Let me break this down for you." Or a full restatement of what you just said. Or a disclaimer. Or a closing summary that repeats everything it just told you. You didn't ask for any of that. It costs tokens and it wastes your time. Add this to your Custom Instructions: 12 - Don't re-explain yourself every conversation If you're pasting the same background information into every new chat, you are wasting tokens every single time and training yourself into a habit that costs you more as Claude usage scales. This is exactly what Projects and Custom Instructions are for. Put your context in once. Let Claude read it automatically at the start of every session. Never paste your background again. If you are not using Projects yet, start there before anything else in this article. 13 - Start a new chat for a new topic Claude carries the context of everything said earlier in a conversation. When you switch topics inside a long chat, Claude still has all the previous context loaded. That means more tokens used on every response, slower processing, and context bleed from earlier in the conversation affecting your new topic. When you switch to something unrelated, start a fresh chat inside your Project. You keep the Project memory. You lose the irrelevant baggage. Ready to Use Right Now These are complete prompts you can copy and use immediately. 14 - Understand anything through analogies (Feynman method) Most explanations Claude gives by default are technically correct and practically useless. They use the same vocabulary as the thing you're trying to understand, which means you walk away with a definition but not actual comprehension. The Feynman method forces understanding through simplicity. If Claude can't explain it in plain terms using analogies, it means the explanation isn't clear enough yet. This prompt works for anything from investing to quantum physics to how a specific API works 15 - Travel plan built around how you actually travel Most travel planning starts with destinations and ends with a generic itinerary you could find on any travel blog. Claude can do something different: build a plan around your specific travel style, pace, budget, and what actually matters to you, not what's on every must-see list. The key is giving it real information about you, not just dates and locations. 16 - Monthly expense analysis with real conclusions Most people look at their bank statement and feel vaguely bad about their spending without understanding what's actually happening. Claude can turn raw numbers into a clear picture of where your money is going and what you should actually do about it. This works best when you paste real data, not estimates. 17 - Claude as your personal thinking partner Most people don't have someone in their life who will listen without judgment, ask the right questions, and help them work through something they're stuck on without pushing their own agenda. Claude can fill that role, but only if you give it the right instructions. This isn't therapy. It's structured self-reflection with an outside perspective that helps you think more clearly. 18 - Stress-test any business idea before you commit Most business ideas die because people fall in love with them before testing them. They spend months building something nobody wants because they never honestly asked whether the idea was actually good. Claude can act as a ruthless first filter. Not to kill ideas, but to find the real problems before they cost you time and money. The Actual Point Claude is not smarter than you. It does not have better ideas than you What it has is infinite patience, broad knowledge, and the ability to think through problems from angles you haven't considered. The people who get the most from Claude are not the ones with the best questions. They are the ones who have set it up to understand them, who give it real context, and who know how to use it as a partner rather than a dispenser. Most people will read this and keep opening Claude the same way they always have. Set it up once. Change how you work permanently.