Overview
Claude Opus 4.6 is Anthropic's most powerful model and is widely considered the best LLM for code generation as of early 2025. It excels at understanding complex codebases, following multi-step instructions precisely, and generating clean, well-structured code across many programming languages.
Key Specs
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Model ID | claude-opus-4-6 |
| Context Window | 200,000 tokens (~150K words) |
| Max Output | 32,000 tokens per response |
| Input Cost | $15 per million tokens |
| Output Cost | $75 per million tokens |
| Speed | Moderate — prioritizes quality over speed |
| Best For | Complex multi-file projects, architecture, debugging |
Strengths for Vibe Coding
- Instruction following: Opus 4.6 is exceptionally good at following complex, multi-part instructions without drifting or hallucinating details
- Code quality: Generates clean, well-organized code with good naming conventions and proper error handling
- Large context: Can hold an entire project's codebase in memory, making multi-file edits coherent
- Debugging: Excellent at identifying bugs, understanding error messages, and suggesting targeted fixes
- Agentic behavior: Powers Claude Code CLI — can autonomously read files, make edits, run tests, and iterate
Weaknesses
- Expensive: The most costly model in the Claude family — overkill for simple tasks
- Slower: Takes longer to respond than Sonnet or Haiku, which can slow iterative workflows
- Can be verbose: Sometimes over-explains or adds unnecessary comments and documentation
When to Use Opus 4.6
Use Opus 4.6 when you're building something complex — multi-file applications, systems with tricky logic, or projects where code quality matters more than speed. For quick prototyping or simple one-off scripts, Sonnet or Haiku are more cost-effective choices.
Example Prompt
Complex Vibe Coding Prompt (great for Opus 4.6)
Build a full-stack expense tracker with:
- React frontend with a dashboard showing charts
- Express.js backend with REST API
- SQLite database for persistence
- User authentication with JWT
- Categorized expenses with date filtering
- Export to CSV functionality
- Mobile responsive design
Start with the database schema and API routes,
then build the frontend.