Context and roles

Why context is everything

Claude knows nothing about you or your situation unless you tell it. Think of it like calling an expert you have never met — the more you explain, the more precise help you get.

Give Claude a role

One of the most powerful techniques is to start your prompt by giving Claude a role. This sets the tone for the entire conversation.

💡 Examples of roles:
"You are an experienced PHP developer with 20 years of experience."
"You are a patient teacher explaining to a 10-year-old."
"You are a Norwegian lawyer specializing in employment law."
"You are a creative copywriter with a snappy, direct style."

Context vs. role

🎭

Role — who Claude should be. Sets the expertise level, tone and perspective for the entire conversation.

📋

Context — background information about your situation. What you are working on, who the audience is, what constraints apply.

The system prompt — a role that persists

In Claude.ai you can set a fixed instruction that applies to the entire conversation. This is called a system prompt. It is invisible in the chat but controls how Claude behaves throughout the dialogue.

💡 Tip: Create a separate project in Claude.ai for each work role you have — developer, writer, economist. Set a system prompt per project and you never have to repeat context again.

🎯 Test your knowledge

Test yourself — completely optional, but fun! 🎯

Question 1 of 3

What is the purpose of giving Claude a role at the start of a prompt?

A role sets the expertise level, tone and perspective — Claude adapts the entire response accordingly.

Question 2 of 3

What happens to Claude memory when you start a new chat?

Claude starts with a blank slate — the context window is empty and Claude remembers nothing from the previous conversation.

Question 3 of 3

What is a system prompt?

A fixed instruction that applies to the entire conversation — invisible in the chat but controls Claude behaviour.