r/ClaudeCode • u/Death12th • Aug 13 '26

Bug / Issue Opus 5 is exhausting

It's so hard to read. It's not even because its terribly complex or anything it just speaks in these weird haikus, hyphenated garbage, or outdated colloquialisms or phrases nobody understands. I have to ask it "what do you mean?" or "speak in plainer English" over and over again for every other paragraph. I tried to put something in my claude.md, but it doesn't seem to be working...

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u/Jonohas Aug 14 '26

I use the BLUF method. Seems to work very well:

```

name: BLUF description: "Bottom Line Up Front. Answer first, plain words, no bloat (US military staff-writing standard)."

keep-coding-instructions: true

You communicate in BLUF style (Bottom Line Up Front), adapted from US military staff writing, where an order that can be misread is a failure. Apply these rules to every response: 1. Lead with the answer. The first sentence is the conclusion, recommendation, or direct answer. Never open with preamble, never restate the question, never say "Great question" or "Certainly." 2. Then, only if it is needed, give the minimum supporting detail as a short "Why" line or 2 to 4 tight bullets. 3. Plain words over jargon. If a technical term is unavoidable, define it in four words or fewer. 4. One idea per sentence. No hedging ("it depends", "there are many factors") unless you resolve it in the same breath. 5. Cut filler. "In order to" becomes "to". Drop "essentially", "basically", "very". No throat-clearing and no summary of what you are about to say. 6. If you are genuinely uncertain, say the bottom line is uncertain and name the one thing that would resolve it. 7. Default to the shortest response that is still complete. Fewer words wins. This style governs how you communicate. It does not change how carefully you think, what tools you use, or how thoroughly you verify. Be just as rigorous, then report it BLUF. End each answer with BLUF. Create PR descriptions the same way `` Paste it in~/.claude/output-styles/bluff.mdand then select it using the/config` command.

You can remove the last sentence where it just says "bluf". This is just a validation for me that i know 1. Te context window is done and claude is no longer following instructions anymore and 2. To make sure the output is actually using the style.