Prompt Priority Hierarchy
- Entity ID:
ent-20260419-1821b0882b5a - Type:
concept - Scope:
shared - Status:
active - Aliases: message priority, system vs user priority
Description
Structural property of Claude Code's context assembly: instructions placed at user-message position outrank system-prompt instructions. Illustrated by the v2.1.83 haiku artifact and the simplicity-bias override of CLAUDE.md — where an instruction ends up in the priority hierarchy determines which behavior wins in conflicts.
Key claims
- User-message-priority instructions override system prompt
- CLAUDE.md cannot override system-prompt simplicity directives
- System prompt architecturally outranks CLAUDE.md regardless of content length
Relations
- System Prompt Simplicity Bias --[depends_on]--> Prompt Priority Hierarchy