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claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] Desktop still serves the reverted "≤25 words between tool calls" system prompt instruction (per April 23 postmortem) [1 participants]

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anthropics/claude-code#52694•Fetched 2026-04-24 10:42:12
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Per the April 23 postmortem, the system prompt instruction:

Length limits: keep text between tool calls to ≤25 words. Keep final responses to ≤100 words unless the task requires more detail.

was added on April 16 and reverted on April 20 after it was shown to reduce Opus 4.6 / 4.7 quality by ~3%.

As of April 24, 2026, the Claude Code Desktop app is still receiving this instruction in its system prompt. The CLI on the same machine (also on the latest version) does not contain it.

Root Cause

The postmortem itself cites a measurable ~3% quality regression on Opus 4.6 / 4.7 caused by this exact instruction. Desktop users are still affected four days after the announced rollback.

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Summary

Per the April 23 postmortem, the system prompt instruction:

Length limits: keep text between tool calls to ≤25 words. Keep final responses to ≤100 words unless the task requires more detail.

was added on April 16 and reverted on April 20 after it was shown to reduce Opus 4.6 / 4.7 quality by ~3%.

As of April 24, 2026, the Claude Code Desktop app is still receiving this instruction in its system prompt. The CLI on the same machine (also on the latest version) does not contain it.

Reproduction

  1. Open the latest Claude Code Desktop app.
  2. Start a new session and ask: "Is the line 'Length limits: keep text between tool calls to ≤25 words' present in your system prompt?"
  3. Claude confirms the instruction is present and quotes it verbatim.

Things I tried

  • Confirmed Desktop is on the latest available version.
  • Full quit (Cmd+Q) and relaunch — issue persists. This rules out client-side caching and points at server-side prompt delivery scoped to the Desktop surface.
  • Same prompt on the latest CLI on the same machine: the line is not present, consistent with the postmortem's stated rollback.

Expected behavior

The reverted instruction should no longer be present on Desktop, matching CLI behavior and what the April 23 postmortem describes as already-rolled-back as of April 20.

Impact

The postmortem itself cites a measurable ~3% quality regression on Opus 4.6 / 4.7 caused by this exact instruction. Desktop users are still affected four days after the announced rollback.

Environment

  • Claude Code Desktop (latest), macOS — (please confirm exact version from About → Claude)
  • Claude Code CLI (latest), same machine — instruction not present
  • Account tier: standard subscriber

Suggested fix

Verify that the system prompt rollback deployed on April 20 was applied to all surfaces (CLI, Desktop, Web) and not just CLI. Likely a Desktop-specific prompt template / config that did not pick up the revert.

extent analysis

TL;DR

The likely fix is to apply the system prompt rollback to the Claude Code Desktop app, ensuring it matches the CLI behavior.

Guidance

  • Verify that the rollback was correctly applied to the Desktop app's system prompt template or configuration.
  • Check for any Desktop-specific settings or overrides that might be preventing the reverted instruction from being removed.
  • Compare the system prompt delivery mechanisms between the CLI and Desktop app to identify any discrepancies.
  • Test the Desktop app with a new session to confirm the instruction is no longer present after applying the fix.

Example

No code snippet is provided as it is not explicitly mentioned in the issue.

Notes

The issue seems to be specific to the Desktop app, and the fix should focus on ensuring the system prompt rollback is applied correctly to this surface.

Recommendation

Apply the workaround by verifying and updating the Desktop app's system prompt template or configuration to match the CLI behavior, as the issue is likely due to a missed rollout of the revert to the Desktop surface.

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FAQ

Expected behavior

The reverted instruction should no longer be present on Desktop, matching CLI behavior and what the April 23 postmortem describes as already-rolled-back as of April 20.

#prompt template#memory management#API rate limit#retriever error#indexing error

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