Best Practices

Guidelines for effective use of Claude Commands Library, based on official Claude Code best practices and real-world usage.

General Tips

1. Be Specific with Prompts

Specificity dramatically improves success rates:

Poor: "add tests for foo.py"

Good: "write test case for foo.py covering logged-out user edge case; avoid mocks; use pytest fixtures from conftest.py"

2. Answer Clarifying Questions

When commands ask clarifying questions, provide detailed answers. The more context you give, the better the results.

3. Chain Commands for Complex Workflows

Workflow	Commands
Research then implement	/prompt-research → /prompt-technical
Plan then execute	/prompt-hybrid → manual implementation
Document after building	Implementation → /prompt-article-readme

4. Use Session Management

Start each session with /session-start to load previous context. End with /session-end to preserve your work.

5. Trust Complexity Detection

The hybrid system automatically detects when to spawn agents. Let it work - simple prompts stay fast, complex ones get proper analysis.

6. Leverage Caching

Repeated similar queries benefit from caching. The system automatically caches agent results for 10-20x speedup on subsequent calls.

Workflow Patterns

Explore → Plan → Code → Commit

Recommended for complex problems:

1. Explore - Have Claude read relevant files without writing code
2. Plan - Request a plan before implementation
3. Code - Request implementation only after plan approval
4. Commit - Have Claude commit changes

Test-Driven Development

Particularly powerful for verifiable changes:

1. Write tests based on input/output pairs
2. Confirm tests fail initially
3. Commit tests
4. Implement code to pass tests
5. Commit working implementation

Visual Iteration

For UI development:

1. Share visual mock as reference
2. Have Claude implement
3. Compare screenshot to mock
4. Iterate until aligned

Command Selection

Quick Reference

Goal	Command	Time
Quick cleanup	/prompt	~2s
General perfection	/prompt-hybrid	2-30s
Deep research	/prompt-research	60-180s
Technical implementation	/prompt-technical	5-30s
Article writing	/prompt-article	Interactive
README generation	/prompt-article-readme	~30s
Skill improvement	/reflect	5-15s

When to Use Each

Use /prompt when:

• Quick prompt cleanup needed
• Simple, single-focus request
• Speed is priority

Use /prompt-hybrid when:

• Uncertain about complexity
• Want automatic agent spawning
• Need predictive intelligence

Use /prompt-research when:

• Deep analysis required
• Multiple perspectives needed
• Security or architecture review

Use /prompt-technical when:

• Implementation planning
• Code scaffolding needed
• Technical options comparison

Environment Configuration

CLAUDE.md Files

Place CLAUDE.md files strategically:

• Repository root - Project-specific guidance
• Parent directories - Multi-project conventions
• Child directories - Component-specific rules
• ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md - Global defaults

Recommended Content Structure

# Bash commands
- npm run build: Build the project
- npm run typecheck: Run the typechecker

# Core files
- src/utils/helpers.ts: Common utility functions

# Code style
- Use ES modules (import/export) syntax
- Prefer const over let

# Testing
- Run single tests with: npm test -- path/to/test.spec.ts

Context Management

Use /clear Between Tasks

During long sessions, context can fill with irrelevant conversation. Use /clear between distinct tasks for optimal performance.

Checklists for Complex Tasks

For large migrations or multi-component implementations:

1. Have Claude create a Markdown checklist
2. Address each item sequentially
3. Verify completion before checking off

Safety Practices

Incremental Commits

Commit changes incrementally rather than in large batches. This enables:

• Easy rollback of AI mistakes
• Clear attribution for maintenance
• Bisection for debugging

Multi-Instance Verification

For critical code, use multiple Claude instances:

1. One writes implementation
2. Another reviews and writes tests
3. Third incorporates feedback

Permission Management

Use /permissions to allowlist specific domains and tools, avoiding repeated permission prompts while maintaining security.

Further Reading

For a comprehensive analysis of Claude Code best practices from Anthropic's Code with Claude 2025 conference, see the full analysis document.

This analysis covers:

• Environment customization strategies
• MCP integration patterns
• Headless automation and CI integration
• Multi-Claude workflows
• Git integration deep dive
• Economic and organizational implications