When using Claude with a very long context (e.g., a 100K token document), where should critical instructions be placed for maximum effectiveness?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
You'll get the best results when you put critical instructions at the beginning and/or end of the prompt. Claude, like most LLMs, pays closest attention to the start and finish of context. Important instructions buried in the middle of 100K tokens are most likely to be missed.
Full Explanation
Research on long-context models has identified a 'lost in the middle' phenomenon: models tend to better recall and attend to information at the beginning and end of their context window compared to information in the middle. For a very long context, placing critical instructions at the top before the document and/or repeating them at the end improves reliability. The option that embeds instructions randomly throughout the document is worst practice. The option that says to place instructions after the document because Claude reads documents first and then reads instructions is wrong because reading order doesn't make post-document instructions automatically best; instructions at the very end after massive content may not be as salient as placing them at the beginning. The option that says instructions are equally effective anywhere in the prompt ignores documented positional effects.