Nick Perry tests viral Claude prompts and finds only five that work: ELI5 for simple explanations, Premortem to spot project failures, Steelman to find holes in your argument, Red Team for skeptical review, and First-Principles Breakdown to avoid recycled answers.
I tested every viral, um, Claude cheat code and most of them are trash. So here are 5 that actually work. First is ELI5, because when you type that before your question, Claude explains it like you're 5, so you can use it on, um, tax law or contracts. Second is Premortem, and you add it before any plan, so Claude pretends the project fails 6 months later and tells you exactly why it crashed. Third is Steelman, because Claude builds the strongest argument against your position, which is brutal for finding holes in your thinking. Fourth is red team, and it's like having a board of skeptics attack your plan from every angle in 30 seconds. But the fifth one is different because when you type, break this down from first principles, Claude stops giving you recycled answers and rebuilds your problem from scratch based on what's actually true. Comment coding and I'll send you 10 more.
