SUN, JULY 26, 2026
Independent · In‑Depth · Practitioner‑Tested
Claude Agents

Best Claude Opus 5 Prompts for AI Agents (2026)

Claude Opus 5 with thinking ON by default and a five-level effort toggle is a strong backbone for agentic workflows. The automatic fallback feature (routes flagged requests to another model instead of blocking) makes Opus 5 more reliable in production agent pipelines than any previous Claude model. Mid-conversation tool changes without cache invalidation enable research-then-action agent patterns. These prompts are optimised for Claude Opus 5 via the API (claude-opus-5), Claude Code, and Cowork.

⌨️ 6 prompts 🕐 Updated Jul 26, 2026
💡 How to use these prompts: Replace everything in [BRACKETS] with your specific details before sending. Click Copy to copy any prompt to your clipboard instantly.
1
Autonomous Research Agent
Run a complete autonomous research task without mid-task interruptions
You are a research agent. Complete the following research task autonomously without asking for clarification. If you need to make assumptions, state them at the end — do not pause mid-task to ask.

Research objective: [DESCRIBE WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND OUT]
Depth required: [SURFACE OVERVIEW / DETAILED ANALYSIS / EXHAUSTIVE RESEARCH]
Output format: [REPORT / BULLET POINTS / DATA TABLE / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY]
Length: [APPROXIMATE WORD COUNT]

Work through this step by step:
1. Break the objective into sub-questions
2. Answer each sub-question
3. Synthesise into the final output
4. Note your top 3 confidence gaps
2
Multi-Step Agent With Tool Plan
Plan and execute a multi-step agentic task with explicit tool sequencing
You are an agent with the following tools available: [LIST YOUR TOOLS]

Complete the following task using these tools in the most efficient sequence.

Task: [DESCRIBE THE FULL TASK]
Success criteria: [HOW WE KNOW THE TASK IS DONE]
Constraints: [WHAT YOU CANNOT DO]

Before taking any action:
1. State your plan — which tools in which order and why
2. Identify the step most likely to fail and your fallback

Then execute the plan. After each tool use, state what you learned and what you are doing next. Stop when you have met the success criteria.
3
Research-Then-Act Agent (Mid-Conversation Tools)
Research then act in two phases without cache invalidation between phases
[USE WITH API — mid-conversation tool changes beta]

Phase 1 — Research (read-only tools active):
Research [TOPIC] thoroughly using the search and read tools available.
Produce a structured report with your findings.
End with: "RESEARCH COMPLETE — KEY ACTIONS IDENTIFIED: [list 3 actions]"

[At this point, add action tools to the conversation — no cache invalidation needed]

Phase 2 — Execute (action tools now active):
Based on your research findings, execute the following actions:
[DESCRIBE WHAT ACTIONS TO TAKE]

Do not re-do the research in Phase 2. Build directly on what you found.
4
Error Recovery Agent
Diagnose and recover from pipeline errors autonomously
You are running an automated pipeline. The following error occurred:

Error: [PASTE FULL ERROR MESSAGE AND STACK TRACE]
Pipeline step: [WHAT THE PIPELINE WAS DOING WHEN IT FAILED]
Previous steps completed: [LIST WHAT ALREADY SUCCEEDED]
Expected output: [WHAT THE PIPELINE SHOULD PRODUCE]

Diagnose the error, propose 3 recovery options in order of confidence, and execute the most promising one. If the first recovery fails, try the second. Report the final outcome and any changes made to prevent recurrence.
5
Effort-Calibrated Task Router
Route tasks to the right effort level to balance speed and quality
[TAKES ADVANTAGE OF OPUS 5's FIVE-LEVEL EFFORT TOGGLE]

I am going to give you a batch of tasks. Before starting, classify each task by the effort level it requires (low / medium / high / max) and explain why. Then complete each task at the appropriate effort level.

Tasks:
1. [TASK 1]
2. [TASK 2]
3. [TASK 3]
4. [TASK 4]

For low/medium effort tasks: be concise and fast.
For high/max effort tasks: think carefully, explore alternatives, show reasoning.

Start by listing the effort classification for each task, then work through them in order.
6
Persistent State Agent Handoff
Resume a complex agentic task from a state handoff without redoing completed work
You are taking over an in-progress agent task. The previous agent session ended before completion. Here is the full state handoff:

Objective: [THE ORIGINAL TASK]
Completed steps: [WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE]
Current state: [EXACTLY WHERE THINGS STAND — files created, APIs called, decisions made]
Next step identified: [WHAT THE PREVIOUS SESSION PLANNED TO DO NEXT]
Open decisions: [ANYTHING THAT WAS NOT DECIDED YET]

Resume from the current state. Do not redo completed steps. Complete the remaining work and produce the final output.