Claude Code

Best Practices

Reliable habits and patterns for safe, effective Claude Code development sessions.

Core practices

Plan Before Executing

Always ask Claude to create a plan before making changes to understand the full scope and catch issues early.

Why: Prevents wasted effort on wrong approaches and ensures alignment before code changes

How: Use phrases like 'create a plan for...' or 'what's the best approach to...' before requesting implementation

Single-Task Prompts

Keep each prompt focused on one clear objective rather than multiple unrelated tasks.

Why: Reduces complexity, improves accuracy, and makes it easier to review changes

How: Break large requests into sequential steps. Complete and verify each before moving to the next

Review Before Committing

Always review diffs and changes before committing to catch errors and understand what changed.

Why: Prevents bugs, security issues, and unintended changes from entering your codebase

How: Use `git diff` to review all changes. Ask Claude to explain unexpected modifications

Test-Driven Validation

Run tests after changes to verify functionality and catch regressions immediately.

Why: Provides confidence that changes work as intended and don't break existing functionality

How: Run test suite after each change. If tests fail, have Claude fix issues before proceeding

Context management

Start fresh for new features

Begin a new Claude Code session when starting unrelated work to avoid context pollution

Use Claude.md for project context

Maintain a Claude.md file with project conventions, patterns, and constraints

Reference specific files and line numbers

Be explicit about which files and code sections you're referring to

Provide error messages in full

Copy complete error messages including stack traces for accurate debugging

Prompting techniques

Be specific about constraints

Don't just say 'refactor this'. Say 'refactor using TypeScript generics, maintain existing API, add JSDoc comments'

Specify output format

Instead of 'analyze this code', say 'analyze and output a markdown table with issues, severity, and fixes'

Provide success criteria

After implementation, state 'this should pass all tests and maintain <100ms response time'

Use examples for clarity

Show an example of the desired output format rather than describing it

Anti-patterns to avoid

Fixing bugs without understanding root cause

Problem: Leads to bandaid fixes that break later or cause new issues

Instead: Ask Claude to analyze the root cause first, then propose a comprehensive fix

Accepting first solution without alternatives

Problem: May miss better approaches or important tradeoffs

Instead: Ask 'what are alternative approaches and their tradeoffs?' before choosing

Skipping documentation updates

Problem: Code and docs drift apart, confusing future developers

Instead: Update docs and comments in the same prompt as code changes

Ignoring security implications

Problem: Can introduce vulnerabilities like XSS, SQL injection, or data leaks

Instead: Explicitly ask about security implications of changes

Code quality guidelines

Naming Conventions

Follow project naming standards
Use descriptive names over abbreviations
Maintain consistency with existing code

Error Handling

Handle edge cases explicitly
Provide meaningful error messages
Fail fast for invalid inputs

Performance

Avoid premature optimization
Profile before optimizing
Document performance requirements

Testing

Test edge cases and failure modes
Maintain test coverage
Use meaningful test names

Collaboration practices

Team Projects

Share your Claude.md file with the team
Document Claude-generated code in PRs
Review AI-generated code like human code
Establish team standards for AI usage

Open Source

Verify license compatibility
Ensure generated code is original
Add clear attribution if using templates
Test thoroughly before contributing

Debugging best practices

Provide full error messages and stack traces

Share relevant code context, not just the error line

Describe what you expected vs what happened

Include recent changes that might have caused the issue

Try reproducing in a minimal example first

Security practices

Input Validation

Always validate and sanitize user inputs, even in Claude-generated code

Secrets Management

Never commit API keys or credentials. Use environment variables

Dependencies

Review and vet dependencies before adding them

Code Review

Treat AI-generated code with same security scrutiny as human code

Efficiency tips

Use hooks for automated checks

Set up pre-commit hooks to run linters and tests automatically

Create reusable prompts

Save common workflows as templates or slash commands

Leverage MCP for data access

Connect relevant tools to avoid manual copy-paste

Batch similar tasks

Group related changes in one session to maintain context