Claude Code is a powerful AI coding assistant, but getting the most out of it requires understanding its workflows, commands, and best practices. This guide covers everything from basic interactions to advanced techniques that will help you use Claude Code effectively in your daily development work.

If you have not installed Claude Code yet, start with our installation guide for Mac, Windows, and Linux. For background on what the tool does, see what is Claude Code.

Open your terminal, navigate to your project directory, and type “claude” to launch an interactive session. Claude Code reads your project files and understands the structure of your codebase from the start. You type natural language requests at the prompt, and Claude Code responds by reading files, proposing changes, and executing commands with your approval.

A good first interaction is asking Claude Code to explain your codebase. Type something like “give me an overview of this project’s architecture” and it analyzes your files and provides a summary. This helps you see what Claude Code understands and gives you a baseline for more complex requests.

Essential Commands You Should Know

Claude Code includes built-in slash commands that control its behavior. The /init command generates a CLAUDE.md configuration file for your project. The /clear command resets your conversation context, essential when switching between unrelated tasks to avoid wasting tokens on stale information. The /cost command shows your current session’s token usage. The /compact command summarizes your conversation history to free up context window space while preserving important details.

The /model command switches between AI models mid-session. Sonnet is the default and handles most coding tasks efficiently at lower cost. Opus provides the most capable reasoning for complex decisions. Use /help to see all available commands including custom ones you have created.

Use the @ symbol to reference specific files or directories. For example, “@src/api/users.js explain the authentication flow” directs Claude Code to focus on that file. Execute shell commands within a session by prefixing them with an exclamation mark. “!npm test” runs your test suite without leaving the conversation and costs fewer tokens than asking Claude to do it conversationally. For a deep dive into terminal-specific techniques, see how to use Claude Code in the terminal.

Common Development Workflows

For bug fixes, describe the problem and let Claude Code investigate. It reads error messages, traces through your code, identifies the root cause, and proposes a fix as a diff you review and approve. For feature implementation, describe what you want built and Claude Code creates or modifies the necessary files.

For code reviews, ask Claude Code to review recent changes or a specific file. It checks for security vulnerabilities, performance problems, and maintainability concerns. For refactoring, describe the transformation you want and Claude handles multi-file changes.

Git workflows are another strong use case. Claude Code stages changes, writes commit messages, creates branches, and opens pull requests when connected to GitHub through MCP. Tell it “commit these changes with a descriptive message” and it handles the operations. Learn how to connect these external tools in our guide on how Claude Code works and how to extend it with MCP.

How to Use Claude Code Effectively

Be specific in your requests. Instead of “fix this code,” say “the login endpoint returns a 500 error when the email field is empty. Find and fix the missing validation.” The more context you provide upfront, the better the results.

Use CLAUDE.md files to give Claude Code persistent context about your project. Include coding standards, preferred libraries, architecture decisions, and review checklists. Claude Code reads these at the start of every session, so you do not need to repeat this information in every prompt. For details on setting this up, see our setup and configuration guide.

Clear context between unrelated tasks using /clear. Stale context wastes tokens on every subsequent message. Use /rename before clearing so you can find the session later, then /resume to return when needed.

Switch models based on task complexity. Use Sonnet for writing tests, fixing lint errors, and generating boilerplate. Switch to Opus for complex multi-step reasoning, architectural decisions, and debugging subtle issues.

Using Claude Code in Your IDE

The terminal is the primary interface, but Claude Code also integrates with VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and JetBrains IDEs. These extensions show proposed changes as visual diffs, let you share selected code as context, and provide a sidebar panel for interaction without leaving your editor. For complete setup instructions and IDE-specific tips, see our dedicated guide on using Claude Code in VS Code and Cursor.

Non-Interactive Mode and Automation

Claude Code supports non-interactive mode for scripting and CI/CD integration. Run “claude -p” followed by a quoted prompt to get a single response piped to stdout. This enables workflows like monitoring logs with “tail -f app.log | claude -p ‘alert me if you see anomalies'” or reviewing changes with “git diff main –name-only | claude -p ‘review these files for security issues.'”

You can also automate translations, generate documentation, run bulk operations across files, and integrate Claude Code into any automated pipeline. This composability is what makes it fundamentally different from chat-based AI assistants.

Managing Costs While Using Claude Code

Claude Code consumes tokens for each interaction, with costs varying by codebase size, query complexity, and conversation length. Use /cost to monitor usage and /compact to reduce context when it grows large. Clearing context between tasks and choosing Sonnet over Opus for routine work are the most effective ways to keep costs down.

For a full breakdown of subscription plans, API pricing, and cost optimization strategies, read our Claude Code pricing guide. To understand the technical underpinnings of token usage and context windows, see how Claude Code works.