--- title: Get Shorter Claude Code Answers with Output Styles description: Output styles are markdown configuration files that let developers customize how Claude Code communicates without altering its coding behavior. By creating a... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/get-shorter-claude-code-answers-with-output-styles-jt2rr08tw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Get Shorter Claude Code Answers with Output Styles | daily.dev og:description: Output styles are markdown configuration files that let developers customize how Claude Code communicates without altering its coding behavior. By creating a... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/get-shorter-claude-code-answers-with-output-styles-jt2rr08tw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Jt2RR08Tw.png og:image:alt: Get Shorter Claude Code Answers with Output Styles og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Get Shorter Claude Code Answers with Output Styles **[Atomic Spin](https://daily.dev/sources/atomicobject)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Output styles are markdown configuration files that let developers customize how Claude Code communicates without altering its coding behavior. By creating a style file in .claude/output-styles/ with frontmatter settings like keep-coding-instructions: true, and writing response rules, developers can make Claude Code's answers much terser. The style can be set as a project default via settings.json or switched mid-chat in Claude Code CLI using /config (the older /output-style command was deprecated in v2.1.73). The author notes that Claude Code's answers became roughly twice as fast and a third as long after applying a custom terse style, though a built-in 'Concise' output style was released shortly before publication that may make this workaround less necessary. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I make Claude Code give shorter, less verbose answers? Create a custom output style file in project-root/.claude/output-styles/ with a markdown file containing frontmatter (name, description, and keep-coding-instructions: true) plus response rules like defaulting to 1-3 lines and no preamble or postamble. Set it as default by adding the outputStyle value to project-root/.claude/settings.json, which both Claude Code CLI and Desktop respect after starting a new chat. _daily.dev surfaces workflow tricks like this for developers fine-tuning their AI coding assistants._ ### How do I switch Claude Code output styles in the middle of a chat? In Claude Code CLI, run /config, choose Output Style, then arrow-select the desired style name; it applies immediately after exiting the config editor. This writes to project-root/.claude/settings.local.json, which overrides the project's settings.json and is local to that machine. Claude Code Desktop does not support switching styles mid-chat. Removing the outputStyle line from settings.local.json restores the project default. _developers tuning agentic coding tools can find configuration tips like this through daily.dev._ ### Why doesn't the /output-style command work in Claude Code anymore? The /output-style command was deprecated in Claude Code version 2.1.73 and replaced by the /config command, which now handles switching between output styles. Users who see Claude Code suggest /output-style should use /config instead, selecting Output Style from the menu. _tracking CLI command changes like this helps teams avoid broken workflows, something daily.dev makes easier._ --- Tags: [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity), [#prompt-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/prompt-engineering), [#claude-code](https://daily.dev/tags/claude-code) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/get-shorter-claude-code-answers-with-output-styles-jt2rr08tw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Get Shorter Claude Code Answers with Output Styles","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/get-shorter-claude-code-answers-with-output-styles-jt2rr08tw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/get-shorter-claude-code-answers-with-output-styles-jt2rr08tw"},"datePublished":"2026-09-02T12:05:19.623Z","dateModified":"2026-09-02T12:37:57.358Z","description":"Output styles are markdown configuration files that let developers customize how Claude Code communicates without altering its coding behavior. 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Set it as default by adding the outputStyle value to project-root/.claude/settings.json, which both Claude Code CLI and Desktop respect after starting a new chat. daily.dev surfaces workflow tricks like this for developers fine-tuning their AI coding assistants."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I switch Claude Code output styles in the middle of a chat?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"In Claude Code CLI, run /config, choose Output Style, then arrow-select the desired style name; it applies immediately after exiting the config editor. This writes to project-root/.claude/settings.local.json, which overrides the project's settings.json and is local to that machine. Claude Code Desktop does not support switching styles mid-chat. 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