What is the primary architectural difference between enforcing a business rule via a system prompt versus…

Question

What is the primary architectural difference between enforcing a business rule via a system prompt versus using an Agent SDK hook?

Accepted Answer

C. Hooks provide 100% reliable deterministic enforcement, whereas prompts are probabilistic and can occasionally be ignored by the LLM.

Answer

A. Prompts execute after the tool runs, while hooks execute before the prompt is processed.

Answer

B. Prompts are deterministic, while hooks rely on the model's probabilistic reasoning.

Answer

D. Prompts require an active MCP server connection, while hooks run strictly within the Claude desktop application.

Question 173