# Claude XML Cheatsheet — One-Screen Reference

> One-screen condensed Claude XML reference: core tags, recommended order, rules of thumb, extraction regex.
>
> Source: https://claudexml.com/cheatsheet/ · Last updated 2026-05-25

Home / Cheatsheet

# Claude XML cheatsheet

    One-screen condensed reference. Bookmark this.


## Core tags


      TagPurposeSibling of

      `<instructions>`What the model should docontext, examples, documents, question
      `<context>`Background facts (not commands)instructions, documents, question
      `<examples>`Container for few-shot demosinstructions, question
      `<example>`One demo (with `<input>`/`<output>`)nested in examples
      `<documents>`Container for RAG passagesinstructions, question
      `<document>`One passage (with `<source>`)nested in documents
      `<source>`Citation ID for a documentnested in document
      `<thinking>`CoT scratchpadanswer
      `<answer>`Extractable final answerthinking
      `<format>`Output schema / shapeinstructions, question
      `<role>`Inline personastandalone




## Recommended order

    For prompts with long reference material:


```xml
<documents>...</documents>
<examples>...</examples>
<instructions>...</instructions>
<question>...</question>
```

    For prompts without long material, instructions can come first.


## Rules of thumb



- Long documents → put them first.

- Want to parse the output → wrap it in a tag and tell Claude "return only inside the tag."

- Want citations → always include `<source>`.

- Want reliability → 2–5 examples, not 0, not 20.

- Want safety → sanitize user input before splicing into prompts.

- Want structured output → use API tool use first; XML `<format>` second.



## Extraction regex

    To pull content from a tag:


```xml
<answer>([\s\S]*?)</answer>
```

    Use the multi-line, non-greedy form in all languages. `[\s\S]` beats `.` because it matches newlines.


Cite this page

`Claude XML Cheatsheet. claudexml.com. https://claudexml.com/cheatsheet/`