E1 · The reference work
30 minDo the task once yourself, the way you consider excellent. Save it as the reference and write down two mistakes you want to avoid.
Done when: there is a reference file made by you and a list of two mistakes to avoid.
Lesson 4 · 16 min
The role era: brilliant, but new to the company
Anthropic, the company that makes Claude, recommends treating Claude like a brilliant but new employee who doesn't know your rules yet. Anyone who has hired people knows what that takes: a clear goal, the background of where it came from, and an example of work done well. In this lesson you put the three together into a role sheet and check your sheet right on the page.
Start the lesson
In this lesson you will
- 1Why treat the AI like someone new on the team
- 2The three steps to delegate
- 3How Anthropic's teams make requests
- 4Write and check your sheet
Goal: write an agent's role sheet with a role, a measurable goal, context, an example and a boundary.
01The three steps become one sheet
Tap or click each step.
Scroll the page: each step below lights up its part of the diagram.
- 1/5
Goal
What needs to happen and how to know it happened. If you can't measure it, the agent can't check its own work and doesn't know when to stop (lesson 5).
- 2/5
Context
Where this goal came from and why: who asked for it, who it's for, what has already been tried. Most of it comes from the base in lesson 3; in the sheet you just point to where it is.
- 3/5
Example
"Do a great job" doesn't work: it doesn't know what great means to you. Do the task once yourself, done well. It's the best-spent time, and probably the last time you do this task.
- 4/5
Role sheet
The sheet brings the three steps together and adds two things every employee needs: what they must never do (boundary) and when you check the work. This is the sheet you hand to the agent.
- 5/5
From request to role
A measurable goal, context and an example, plus a boundary and a check: the role sheet. You stop writing the work and start managing it.
A well-made sketch and a check once in a while: that is how you delegate to someone capable.
02How Anthropic's teams make requests
Cases told by Anthropic itself. Notice how short the requests are.
1. Rewriting the app
The creator of Claude Code (a programming agent) wanted the desktop app rewritten in Swift, another programming language.
The request came with its own test: run the old app, take a screenshot, compare the screens point by point with the new one, and don't stop until they match. The agent ran on its own for over two weeks.
Why it works
The goal measures itself: the new screen is either the same as the old one or it isn't.
2. Replying on Slack
In another case, Claude joined a Slack conversation (the internal chat of many companies), pulled data from several tools and put together a single reply.
Nobody wrote the step-by-step: the role was to answer the team with data.
Why it works
The context (access to the tools) was already there; the request was the team's question.
3. A compiler
A researcher put sixteen Claude agents to work building a C compiler (the program that turns code written by people into a program the computer can run), with a simple order: keep going until it's perfect.
It took about two weeks of work.
Why it works
"Perfect" there had a measure: the compiler passes the tests or it doesn't.
4. The pattern
The requests are short, like the ones you would make to someone on your team. What they have is a way to measure the result and the context at hand.
This is what the role sheet forces you to write.
Takeaway
Short request + clear measure + available context = an agent that runs on its own. In the chat, the same sheet makes every conversation start already in the role; running on its own is something for the terminal and automations.
03Template: the role sheet
One line per field. Replace the text between < > with your own.
role-sheet.txt
Role: <the job, in one sentence: you take care of ...> Goal: <what needs to happen> Measure: <how to know it is finished and good> Context: <where the rules, the lessons and the files are; why the task exists> Example: <where the reference work done by you is> Boundary: <what it must never do> Check: <when and how you look at the work>
How to hand the sheet to the agent
From now on this is your role. Read the sheet below, the project rules and the example indicated. Before you start, tell me in three lines how you will check your own work against the Measure. <paste the sheet here>
Simulation: illustrative example
- Role: you take care of the school's weekly notice to parents.
- Goal: every Friday, a notice with what changes the following week.
- Measure: it fits on one phone screen, gives the date of each change, and I approve it without asking for corrections.
- Context: rules and lessons in the project instructions; the calendar sent to the project (calendar.pdf).
- Example: the file sample-notice.txt sent to the project, written by me.
- Boundary: never promise transportation or mention a student's name.
- Check: I read it every Friday at 4 p.m. before sending it.
- Role: you answer the quote requests that come in through the store's WhatsApp.
- Goal: every quote with items, quantities and a total from the current price list.
- Measure: total matches the price list, delivery time stated, reply within 1 hour during store hours.
- Context: price list and shipping rules sent to the project.
- Example: three quotes I answered myself.
- Boundary: never give a discount or promise same-day delivery.
- Check: I look at the day's quotes at 6 p.m.
- Role: you write the company's job postings.
- Goal: one posting per open position, based on the manager's request.
- Measure: fits on one phone screen, gives salary, location and work schedule, and the manager approves it without corrections.
- Context: job policy and company tone in the project instructions.
- Example: the warehouse checker posting, written by me.
- Boundary: never ask for age, photo or marital status.
- Check: I read it before publishing, the same day.
- Prestige role ("you are the best copywriter"): it is not a role. A role says what they take care of.
- Vague measure ("turn out good"): they don't know when to stop.
- No example: "great" for them is not your "great".
- In the chat: paste the sheet into the project instructions and send the example as a file. Every new conversation in the project already starts in the role.
- In the terminal: save it as role-sheet.txt in the folder and mention the file in AGENTS.md.
04Check your sheet
Paste your sheet (or upload the .txt). The page checks the seven fields, rejects anything empty or vague and asks that the Measure include a number or a test along with what is being measured ("3 lines", "cites the date", "approved with no corrections"). The OK only checks the format; it doesn't guarantee the measure is a good one: you are the one who decides, in the practice below.
role-sheet.txt
05Practice: the sheet for your first agent
Use the "role candidate" you marked in lesson 1.
E2 · The sheet
20 minFill in role-sheet.txt with the seven fields and paste it into the checker above.
Done when: the checker answers "OK: sheet with all 7 fields filled in" and you wrote, in one sentence, how you check the Measure by looking at a deliverable.
E3 · The first deliverable
20 minGive the sheet to the agent (in the chat: paste it into the project instructions and open a new conversation; in the terminal: save it in the folder) and ask for the first run using the request from the template.
Done when: the agent described how it will check itself against the Measure and delivered a result that you compared with the reference.
06This lesson in one minute
Stop writing prompts: define the role.
Stop writing prompts: define the role (video in Portuguese) · 51 sVideo page with script →
07Test what you learned
The explanation appears after your answer.
Question 1 of 4
What are the three steps for delegating to an agent?skill
Correct
It is what you would give to someone brilliant but new to the company: what to do and how to measure it, where it came from, and what good work looks like.Not that one
It is what you would give to someone brilliant but new to the company: what to do and how to measure it, where it came from, and what good work looks like.Review: The three steps become one sheetQuestion 2 of 4
Why do the task once yourself before delegating?
Correct
"Do a great job" says nothing. The example shows the standard. It's time well spent: it's probably the last time you'll do this task.Not that one
"Do a great job" says nothing. The example shows the standard. It's time well spent: it's probably the last time you'll do this task.Review: The three steps become one sheetQuestion 3 of 4
In the app rewritten in Swift, what let the agent run on its own for two weeks?
Correct
The request was short, but it came with the test. With a clear measure, the agent checks itself and knows when it's done.Not that one
The request was short, but it came with the test. With a clear measure, the agent checks itself and knows when it's done.Review: How Anthropic's teams make requestsQuestion 4 of 4
"Role: you are the best copywriter in the world." What's wrong with it?
Correct
A job says what the agent takes care of ("you take care of the weekly notice to parents"). Prestige doesn't change the result, as we saw in lesson 2.Not that one
A job says what the agent takes care of ("you take care of the weekly notice to parents"). Prestige doesn't change the result, as we saw in lesson 2.Review: Template: the role sheetQuiz complete
You got {a} of {n} right. If you get them all right, the lesson is marked as completed.Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you try.
08The lesson in three sentences
Brilliant, but newDelegate as you would to someone capable who doesn't know the place yet.
Three stepsA measurable goal, context and an example you made yourself.
The sheetRole, goal, measure, context, example, boundary and check, all on one sheet.