> Opus 4.7 is substantially better at following instructions. Interestingly, this means that prompts written for earlier models can sometimes now produce unexpected results: where previous models interpreted instructions loosely or skipped parts entirely, Opus 4.7 takes the instructions literally. Users should re-tune their prompts and harnesses accordingly.
One of the hard rules in my harness is that it has to provide a summary Before performing a specific action. There is zero ambiguity in that rule. It is terse, and it is specific.
In the last 4 sessions (of 4 total), it has tried skipping that step, and every time it was pointed out, it gave something like the following.
> You're right — I skipped the summary. Here it is.
It is not following instructions literally. I wish it was. It is objectively worse.
Not sure it is better at following instructions. One of the first issues I had with it was doing the thing it was specifically forbidden from doing. When told: "oh sorry, I had a note that I should not do it in my MEMORY but I did it anyway".
> Opus 4.7 is substantially better at following instructions. Interestingly, this means that prompts written for earlier models can sometimes now produce unexpected results: where previous models interpreted instructions loosely or skipped parts entirely, Opus 4.7 takes the instructions literally. Users should re-tune their prompts and harnesses accordingly.