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Code ReviewBeginner
Get Layered Code Explanations
Request explanations at multiple levels of abstraction in a single prompt—from high-level purpose down to specific implementation details.
explanationunderstandingdocumentation
The Strategy
A single explanation level rarely satisfies all readers. Requesting layered explanations in one prompt saves round-trips and makes the output useful for different audiences.
prompt.txt
<task>
Explain the following code at three levels:
</task>
<code>
[Paste code here]
</code>
<output_format>
## Level 1: ELI5 (one paragraph, no jargon)
## Level 2: Technical Summary (for a mid-level engineer)
## Level 3: Implementation Details (line-by-line for critical sections)
</output_format>You might also need
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Elicit Chain-of-Thought Reasoning
Tell Claude to "think step by step" or use `<thinking>` tags to get more accurate answers for complex problems.
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PromptingBeginner
Specify Output Format Explicitly
Tell Claude exactly what structure you want: JSON, Markdown, TypeScript types, numbered lists—avoid post-processing by baking format into the prompt.
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