Prompting is the worst way to use Claude in 2026.

Here's what the top 1% do instead:

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They set up these 5 files once.

Then they barely prompt again.

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File 1: about-me .md (Your identity)

Who you are, how you write, how you think.

Open Cowork. Use Opus 4.7 + Adaptive thinking.

Prompt:

Build my about-me .md. Interview me with 20 questions via AskUserQuestion. 

To download mine, go to how-to-ai.guide.

Don't pay anything. It's free in the welcome email.

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File 2: anti-ai-writing-style .md (Your boundaries)

Every word you ban, the structure you reject, tone you hate. 80% of this file is what you're NOT.

Go to how-to-ai.guide to download anti AI guide.

Don't pay .Open the email. Click on Notion.

Open '.md files' Download 'ANTI AI STYLE .md'.

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File 3: my-company .md (your goals & hard nos)

Same Cowork session as about-me.

Prompt:

Build my my-company .md. 6-8 questions on goals and decisions. Under 1,000 tokens.

Cover: yearly targets with numbers, quarterly focus.

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File 4: global-instructions .md (persistent rules)

Settings → Cowork → Global Instructions.

Paste this:

Before every task, read every file in ABOUT ME/. Never touch OUTPUTS/ or TEMPLATES/ unless I point you to a file. Save deliverables in OUTPUTS/. If unclear, use AskUserQuestion.

Claude follows them before every task.

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File 5: /47 skill (your prompt automation)

Download directly from how-to-ai.guide.

Upload it via Customize → Skills.

Type /47 + your bad prompt.

Claude rewrites it with action verbs, and "go beyond the basics" on creative work.

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The secret was always these 5 files behind it.

I wrote 2 guides so you can copy my exact system:

✦ My full 5-file setup: how-to-ai.guide

✦ My Cowork folder walkthrough: claude-co.work

(save this to never write a long prompt to Claude)