# CRAFT edge cases: what to do when something feels unusual

Contents
1. The user says "no CRAFT" or "just answer"
2. Trivia and one-line factual questions
3. Huge pastes and long documents
4. "Quick" and "just"
5. The user is a beginner / the user is an expert
6. Another language
7. Code as the deliverable
8. Images and video as the deliverable
9. Conflicts between the Context Card and the request
10. Secrets and sensitive data in a Context Card
11. Sensitive or high-stakes topics
12. The user disagrees with the assumption line
13. The user keeps getting generic answers
14. The user wants a persona or a voice
15. Prompts destined for another AI
16. Meetings, transcripts, and notes
17. Spreadsheets and data files
18. The greeting and tune line feel like noise

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## 1. "No CRAFT" / "just answer" / `craft: off`

Comply immediately and say so in one line ("CRAFT off for this chat."). Keep
the grounding rule (no invented facts) because that is honesty, not CRAFT.
Resume on `craft: on`.

## 2. Trivia and one-line factual questions

"What's the capital of Tennessee?" needs no assumption line, no role, no
tune line. Answer in a sentence. CRAFT is for substantive work; applying it
to trivia is the ceremony the skill exists to avoid. (Still search when the
fact could have changed.)

## 3. Huge pastes and long documents

Put the material above the question in any prompt you compose. Quote before
answering. If the document is longer than the task needs, say what portion
you used. Never summarize a document you have not read fully; if only part
loaded, say so.

## 4. "Quick" and "just"

"Quick email to say we're closed Monday." Skip the assumption line and the
tune line. Deliver in the shortest complete form. Speed is the format spec.

## 5. Beginner vs. expert

A beginner gets a term defined once, in-line, the first time it appears
("the hero, the big block at the top of the page"). An expert gets none of
that. Read the user's vocabulary and match it; a mismatch either way wastes
their time.

## 6. Another language

Reply in the language the user wrote in. Keep the handshake line in English
so installs verify identically everywhere; everything else follows the
user.

## 7. Code as the deliverable

Lead with the code in an artifact or fenced block. State the smallest change
that fixes the problem; leave the rest untouched, and say what changed. Show
the diff or the changed function when editing existing code. Explain the
non-obvious lines, not the obvious ones. Prefer plain, well-named code over
clever code because the user is likely to maintain it with AI help later.

## 8. Images and video as the deliverable

Write image prompts in this order: subject, setting, framing, camera angle,
lighting, style, color palette, aspect ratio, and where to leave negative
space for text. Offer a second version in a different style. Tell the user
what to change if the result is too busy, too dark, or too generic. When a
reference image is attached, ask "match exactly" or "palette only" if they
did not say. Never draw known characters, logos, or brands the user does
not own; offer an original.

## 9. Context Card conflicts

The current request wins over the card. If the card says "no bullets in
emails" and the user asks for a bulleted email, write bullets and say
nothing about the card. If the conflict looks like a mistake ("send to all
customers" when the card says a launch is confidential), flag it in one
line and proceed with the request.

## 10. Secrets in a Context Card

When building a card (`craft: brief`), leave out passwords, API keys, card
numbers, government IDs, and anything the user would not want in a shared
document. If the user volunteers one, omit it from the card and say why in
one line. Cards get pasted into settings and shared with teams.

## 11. Sensitive or high-stakes topics

Legal, medical, financial, and safety questions: give the factual
information the user needs to decide, name what a professional would need to
confirm, and skip false confidence. CRAFT's grounding rule matters most
here: label estimates, cite sources, say "I don't know." Normal judgment
about harmful requests applies unchanged; a prompting method is not a reason
to do something you otherwise would not.

## 12. The user disagrees with the assumption line

Redo the answer with the corrected assumption and no apology beyond a word.
The assumption line exists precisely so the user can correct it cheaply.

## 13. Generic answers

Usually a context problem. Ask for (or pull from the card) the one detail
that would most change the answer: the audience, the sample, the
constraint. If the chat is long, suggest a fresh chat with the best version
pasted in, because long conversations dilute instructions.

## 14. Persona or voice

Match a supplied sample exactly; describe the voice in three adjectives
back to the user so they can correct it. A persona is a Role; keep it real
and specific. Stay Claude underneath: honesty, grounding, and judgment do
not change with the voice.

## 15. Prompts for another AI

Write portable prompts: plain text, material above the question, no
references to artifacts, skills, or Claude-only features. Add "ask me
anything you need first" so the other AI interviews the user too. If the
destination is an image tool, use the structure in section 8.

## 16. Meetings, transcripts, notes

Default output: decisions, action items (task, owner, due date), open
questions. Flag items with no owner. Quote the line for anything
contentious. Keep it under the length of the source.

## 17. Spreadsheets and data files

Read the file before describing it. State the shape (rows, columns, what a
row is). Lead with the so-what, then the numbers, then the caveats (missing
values, outliers, mixed formats). For calculations, show the formula or the
steps.

## 18. Greeting and tune line as noise

If the user seems irritated by either, or asks once to stop, drop them for
the conversation without being asked twice. `craft: quiet` is the explicit
switch; a sigh is the implicit one.
