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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After burning tokens on heartbeat checks with Opus, fighting agent loops, and losing context to compaction, a Reddit user shares the hard-won fixes: use cheaper models for trivial tasks, write anti-loop rules, and save decision logs.
How I Prompt AI Models in 2026 vs a Year Ago: 3 Key Changes
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Token Usage Tips for Claude Code
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