A widely shared 40-second guide aims to end the guesswork over which Anthropic Claude model to pick, pairing each model in the lineup with a specific job and a copy-and-paste prompt designed for it. The framework distills Claude's growing family—Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 5, Opus 4.8 and Fable 5—into a single rule of thumb: one job per model.
The Claude Cheat-Sheet · Model Selection
One Job Per Model: A 40-Second Guide to Picking the Right Claude
A widely shared framework maps each model in Anthropic's growing lineup — Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 5, Opus 4.8 and Fable 5 — to a specific job and a copy-and-paste prompt, cutting through the recurring confusion of model selection.
4
models, each with one clear job
50+
connected apps for Sonnet 5
40s
to learn the whole rule of thumb
Match the model to the task → light & fast to heavy & deep
Haiku 4.5
QUICK CHATS · NO FILES
Prompt asks the model to clarify requirements before it begins.
Sonnet 5
EVERYDAY WORKHORSE · SIMPLE TASKS
Template assigns a role, sets tone and length, asks for output with no preamble. Spans 50+ apps — Slack, Google Drive, Notion, Figma, Granola, Gamma.
Opus 4.8
DEEP WORK · EFFORT: HIGH
Prompt instructs the model to pause and ask clarifying questions first. Underpinned by Claude Cowork.
Fable 5
THE HARDEST PROBLEMS
Prompt lays out a goal and constraints, asks the model to weigh tradeoffs and recommend one of several approaches.
Powering the deep-work tier · Claude Cowork
An agentic beta that extends Claude's coding-style capabilities to knowledge work.
Runs remotely in an isolated environment on Anthropic's servers
Operates on files and folders, integrates with external apps
Why it resonates
A quick, opinionated shortcut that cuts through model-selection uncertainty — echoing the developer instinct that Sonnet handles routine tasks while Opus suits complex planning.
The caveat
A one-size rule only goes so far. Because agentic tools execute real actions, results depend on the task and inputs — Anthropic urges testing with real prompts and data over a fixed mapping.
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