An Artifact is a live document or small tool Claude builds in a side panel next to the chat. Instead of plain text buried in the conversation, you get something you can edit, ask Claude to change, keep old versions of, and reuse later. It suits documents, tables, checklists, simple interactive tools, and any draft you know you will revise more than once.
To use a Claude Artifact, ask Claude to build the thing as an artifact, then refine it by asking for specific changes, which update the same panel and keep the earlier versions for you.
Use it in five steps
- Ask for it as an artifact. Add the words "build this as an artifact" to your request. That tells Claude to open the side panel and put the document or tool there, rather than dropping it inline where it will scroll away.
- Iterate with specific changes. Do not start over. Say "make the second section shorter" or "add a column for the date", and Claude updates the same artifact in place, so your work grows instead of resetting each message.
- Go back to an earlier version when you need to. The artifact keeps its versions. If a change made things worse, you can step back to how it was, so you can experiment freely without losing the good draft you already had.
- Copy or download it when it is done. Once the artifact says what you want, copy it out or download it and use it wherever the work actually lives, your doc, your email, your site. The panel is the workshop, not the final home.
- Know what it is good for. Reach for an artifact for documents, tables, checklists, and simple tools. Do not use one for anything that needs real live data Claude does not have, like today's prices or your live calendar, because it can only work from what it is given.
The artifact prompt
Paste this into a Claude chat and fill in the brackets. It sets up a clean artifact in one go and tells Claude to check with you before guessing. The brackets are the file, so do not leave them as they are.
Build this as an artifact so I can edit it and keep the versions. What I want: [WHAT YOU WANT. For example: a weekly meal-plan checklist. Or: a simple table comparing three suppliers.] Who it is for: [WHO READS OR USES IT. For example: just me, my small team, a customer who is not technical.] How I want to work with it: 1. Put it in the artifact panel, not inline in the chat. 2. Keep it simple. If a normal person could not follow it at a glance, cut it back. 3. When I ask for a change, update this same artifact rather than starting a new one. 4. Never invent a fact, a number, a name, a price or a source. Leave a clear gap for me to fill. 5. If a choice would change the result, ask me one short question before you build it, rather than guessing. Start now, and if anything is unclear, ask your one question first.
Where the line is
- An artifact is still generated, so check it. A clean panel makes a draft look finished, but the facts and numbers inside came from Claude. Read any figure, name or claim yourself before you send or publish it.
- Keep interactive ones simple. A small tool with a lot of moving parts can break. When it does, it is faster to ask Claude to rebuild it plainly than to nurse a broken one, so keep the ambition modest.
Turn your next draft into an artifact
Pick the next thing you would normally ask Claude to write, a checklist, a table, a first draft, and add "build this as an artifact" to the request. Watch it land in the side panel, ask for one change, and see it update in place instead of scrolling away.
Want the same idea for a whole ongoing piece of work? Read how to set up a Claude Project.