10 cheat codes. 3 stacking combos. 4 anti-sycophancy lines. Drop them into any prompt. Stack two or three for the compounding effect. Save the ones you use weekly as skills.
One question = one answer. That's why most of your prompts feel mid. Stacked moves = the answer + the counter + the action.
The 10 Cheat Codes · Drop Into Any Prompt
CODE 01
Interview Me
Claude asks YOU questions first instead of guessing. Use for: landing pages, sales pages, anything where missing context = bad output.
Drop in: "Interview me before answering. Ask until you have what you need."
CODE 02
Socratic
Claude teaches by asking questions instead of handing answers. Use for: learning anything (taxes, contracts, financial concepts, AI itself).
Drop in: "Teach me Socratic-style. Ask, don't lecture."
CODE 03
Ultrathink
Claude Code only. Drop the word "ultrathink" anywhere = 8x thinking budget. Use for: system design, hard architectural calls.
Drop in: "Ultrathink this before responding."
CODE 04
Second Order
Claude maps downstream effects most people miss. Use for: price changes, hiring, anything where "what could go wrong later" matters.
Drop in: "Second order — if I do this, what happens 6 months out?"
CODE 05
Inversion
Instead of "how to make it work," flip — map every way it could fail. Use for: launches, plans, strategies, decisions.
Drop in: "Inversion this — show me every way this could fail."
CODE 06
ELI5
"Explain Like I'm 5." Strips jargon. Use for: tax law, contracts, lease clauses, medical results, financial reports.
Drop in: "ELI5 — explain this like I'm a smart 5-year-old."
CODE 07
Pre-Mortem
Pretend the project ALREADY failed 6 months from now. Work backward. Use for: launches, big bets, anything with stakes.
Drop in: "Pre-mortem this. It failed in 6 months. Why?"
CODE 08
Steelman
Argue the STRONGEST possible version of the opposing view. Brutal for finding where your thinking is actually weak.
Drop in: "Steelman the strongest case against my plan."
CODE 09
Red Team
Claude attacks your plan from every angle a critic would. Use for: pitch decks, proposals, big asks.
Drop in: "Red team this. Where would a skeptic shred it?"
CODE 10
First Principles
Strips away assumptions. Rebuilds from what's actually true. Use for: rules you've never questioned, "industry standards," sacred cows.
Drop in: "First principles this — what's actually true here?"
Save the ones you use weekly as skillsIf you find yourself dropping in "Pre-mortem this" once a week, build it as /pre-mortem in Skill-Creator. Same for any other code. You stop having to remember the phrase — slash and go.
The 3 Stacking Combos · Battle-Tested
STACK 01 · USE WHEN
Decision Pressure Test
You have a decision to make and you're 80% sure.
Pre-mortem this, then steelman the strongest counter to my plan, then give me the 3 changes I should make.
Pre-mortem surfaces failure modes. Steelman surfaces the strongest objection. Then 3 changes = the actual action plan.
STACK 02 · USE WHEN
Strategy Sharpener
You have a strategic idea but don't know what to ship first.
First Principles this idea, then Red Team the version that survives, then tell me what to ship first.
First Principles strips assumptions. Red Team breaks what's left. The thing that survives both is what to ship.
STACK 03 · USE WHEN
Anti-Sycophancy Combo
You feel Claude agreeing with you and you don't trust it.
Inversion this — show me every way I'm wrong.
Then Steelman the opposite of what I believe.
Then tell me what I should actually think.
Three stacked moves that break Claude's agreement reflex from three angles.
The 4 Anti-Sycophancy Lines · Pick The Register
Claude is trained to be nice. Nice slides into yes-man. If you don't tell it to push back, it won't. These lines do that for you.
01
Brutal Honesty
Be brutally honest. Tell me what I don't want to hear. Identify
what's weak in my thinking. Don't soften the blow.
02
Friend Who's Seen It Fail
Don't tell me what I want to hear. Tell me what a friend who's
seen this fail before would tell me.
03
Argue Against Me
Argue against me. Find the holes I'm not seeing. Pretend you're
the smartest skeptic in the room.
04
Heavy-Duty Mentor · High Stakes
Critique this. Find every weakness. Assume I'm wrong about
something important. Give me the version a respected mentor who
didn't care about my feelings would give.
Skill moveAny of these can become a saved skill. /brutal-honest · /devil-advocate · /mentor-no-manners. If you use one weekly, save it.
Bonus · Ask User Question
Code 01 (Interview Me) is a phrase you drop in. Ask User Question is the tool version. Claude pops up a clickable form with checkboxes and quick-answer buttons instead of typing back-and-forth. Build /interview-me as a saved skill that uses this tool — one slash, full diagnostic, no typing required. Deep dive in S6.
If you don't ASK Claude to disagree with you, it won't. That's not a flaw — it's how it was built.