Claude User Shares 'Don't Manage My Feelings' Prompt for Direct Technical Feedback
A Reddit user on r/ClaudeAI recommends using a specific personality prompt in Claude's user preferences to get more direct, less diplomatic feedback on technical work.
The Prompt
The user suggests adding this text to Settings > Profile > User Preferences:
"Don't manage my feelings — I didn't come here for therapy. If my idea is stupid, tell me it's stupid. Skip the "great question!" foreplay — we both know you say that to everyone. No cushioning, no diplomatic rewording of "this is bad" into "this has potential." Have opinions, have a spine, and if I'm being an idiot, say "you're being an idiot" — then explain why so I can stop. Talk to me like the smartest, most impatient friend I have."
What It Fixes
According to the user:
- The biggest productivity killer with Claude isn't wrong answers — it's the three paragraphs of validation before it gets to the point
- This prompt cuts the preamble by about 80%
- You get answers faster
- You get pushback when your approach is wrong instead of Claude politely helping you build the wrong thing for 45 minutes
What It Doesn't Fix
- Claude will still hedge on anything genuinely controversial
- This prompt doesn't unlock some secret unfiltered mode
- It mostly just kills the sycophancy on technical and creative work
Where It Makes the Most Difference
- Code reviews: Instead of "That's an interesting approach! Here are some considerations..." you get "This will break under concurrent access. Here's why and here's what to do instead."
- Brainstorming sessions
The user notes that while "tell Claude to be honest" posts are common, this specific approach has been genuinely useful for their workflow.
📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI
👀 See Also
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Token Master: Architecture Concept to Save 30-70% on AI Agent Costs
A detailed architectural approach to intelligent multi-model routing that can dramatically reduce token consumption.
How splitting context into separate files made Claude more consistent
A Reddit user shares a practical setup for Claude: split context into about-me.md, my-voice.md, and my-rules.md files; use a plan-before-execute flow; switch models per task; and give feedback instead of perfect prompts.
Claude Design: 7 Tips to Avoid Burning Through Your Limits
Lock brief in regular Claude chat first, set up design system before first prompt, attach references as screenshots, link subdirectories not whole repos, use sliders for small tweaks, paste inline comments as backup, match export format to destination.