Claude didn’t get worse 🔧

If the profile box is empty, Claude writes every answer for a generic nobody. That's the whole reason answers feel bland. It reads this before every single chat.

WHERE: tap your initials, then Settings, then Profile. Look for “What should Claude know about you”.

My template, edit the brackets:

I'm [name], a [job]. Right now I'm working on [one or two real things]. Answer me like a sharp friend: direct, short paragraphs, no filler. Lead with the answer, then the why. Show me an example instead of a long explanation. If my idea is bad or risky, say so plainly.

With memory off, everything you explained on Tuesday is gone by Friday. You end up re-explaining your situation at the top of every conversation and it feels like the model got worse. It didn't. It just forgot.

WHERE: Settings, find Memory, switch it on. Afterwards you can ask “what do you remember about me” and it will tell you.

Every message re-reads the entire conversation. So a chat you've been running all week costs far more, and gets more distracted, than a fresh one asking the exact same question. Long chats don't get smarter. They get noisier.

WHAT TO DO: start a new chat whenever you switch tasks. Not once a day. Once a topic. Anything you need to keep goes in a Project instead.

Default writes like a textbook. There's a style setting that makes it answer like a person who respects your time. Same question, completely different answer, and this is usually the change people feel the most.

WHERE: the style picker sits next to the message box. Easier to spot on a computer than on a phone. Set it to Concise.

Not sure which of these you've already done? Ask it.

Paste this into a fresh chat:

Before we start: tell me what you currently know about me from my profile and memory, and what you don't know that would help you give me better answers. Then list what I should add. Be blunt about what's missing.