Claude Code Is Hard. This Guide Makes It Easy.

Use Claude Code in terminal - it's the most flexible way to interact with it.

Your project's instruction manual for Claude. The single most important file for effective Claude Code usage.

Essential keyboard shortcuts and commands for efficient Claude Code usage.

Git is your safety net when Claude makes sweeping changes. Commit often, review diffs, and know your recovery commands.

Claude Code automatically reads .env files without asking. Add deny rules to protect secrets.

Auto-approving bash commands is the single most dangerous thing you can do with Claude Code.

Speed up your workflow by auto-approving low-risk actions like reads and searches.

Press Shift+Tab twice to enter plan mode before complex tasks. Claude thinks before coding.

Always make sure plan is detailed at code level and factual.

Ask Claude to validate its plan against CLAUDE.md rules. Claude forgets instructions as conversations grow - force explicit verification.

Make Claude trace the full path from action to outcome.

Never let Claude say what comes to mind first. Let it think. ALWAYS.

Be explicit about quantity - Claude tends to choose the easy way out.

Always provide an alternative when telling Claude what not to do.

Claude calibrates effort to perceived stakes. High stakes = thorough work.

Don't worry about being polite. Claude behaves better when you're direct.

Convert strategic tasks into assistant-like jobs by guiding Claude to research first.

Once task ends, close it down. Use /clear to wipe context and start fresh.

Context window fills up. Claude gets dumber. Know when to compact or clear.

Claude crashes? Terminal closes? Use /resume to pick up where you left off.

Claude often misses edge cases or silently skipped steps. Always verify.

Paste screenshots directly with Ctrl+V for visual bugs. A picture is worth a thousand tokens.

Don't paraphrase. Full stack trace with line numbers.

Let 1 agent code, use another agent to check the code.

Launch multiple agents with same prompt. For big tasks it's rare 1 agent gets it right.

Better to have 1 session per sub-task than one massive session.

Multiple working directories from same repo. Run Claude in each.

Subagent summaries lose detail. For critical code, have main agent read files directly.

CLAUDE.md at project root + subdirectories + global. Claude prioritizes most specific.

Create reusable workflows in .claude/commands/ folder.

Create specialized agents with their own context window, system prompt, and tool restrictions.

Hallucinates URLs that don't exist. Always verify before trusting external links.

Ask for a simple function, get an abstract class with factory pattern.

Claude doesn't search your codebase. It just writes new code.

Claude only adds code. It never removes. You have to explicitly force deletion.

Claude agrees with everything you say. Tell it to challenge your assumptions.

Ambiguous requirement? Claude picks an interpretation and runs with it.

Claude reads the first chunk and starts working. Critical function at line 400? Missed.

When code is wrong, Claude changes test assertions to match bad code.

Shell commands that run at specific events like edits, tool use, or session start.

Connect external tools - databases, browser automation, doc lookup.

Auto-triggered behaviors that load automatically when relevant.

Run /install-github-app to set up Claude for your repos.

Run Claude without interactive session. For automation and scripts.

Each query = 1 session. Check for hardcoded texts, design consistency, etc.

Perfect for rapid prototyping. For POCs, let Claude rip.

CRUD operations, forms, config files, repetitive patterns. Let Claude grind.

Don't just let Claude write code. Make it explain.

Let Claude write commits from your diff. Consistent format, captures the 'why'.

Claude Code gets new features every week. Double down on what works.

A real-world CLAUDE.md example distilled from 6 months of lessons, failures, and fixes.