Workflow

Build Systems

Turn Claude Code into a repeatable, automated workflow engine.

Overview

The most powerful use of Claude Code isn't one-off tasks—it's building repeatable systems that compound over time. By identifying recurring workflows, automating them with scripts or CI/CD integrations, and iterating based on results, you create leverage. What takes 30 minutes manually today becomes a 30-second automated workflow tomorrow, freeing you to focus on higher-value problems.

When to use

Use this workflow when you find yourself doing the same task repeatedly, onboarding new team members to common processes, scaling development practices across a growing team, or building internal tools and productivity systems.

Step-by-step process

Identify repeatable tasks

Track what you ask Claude to do repeatedly. These patterns reveal opportunities for automation: code review checklists, test generation, deployment scripts, documentation updates.

"I notice I ask you to generate API client code every time we add a new endpoint. Let's build a script that automates this: reads OpenAPI spec, generates TypeScript client with proper types, writes to src/api/. Make it a pre-commit hook."

Automate via headless mode or hooks

Convert manual workflows into automated systems using Claude Code's headless mode, git hooks, CI/CD pipelines, or scheduled scripts.

"Create a GitHub Action that runs on PR creation: 1) Uses Claude Code headless to review code for common issues, 2) Checks against our coding standards in Claude.md, 3) Posts findings as PR comments. Trigger automatically, no manual intervention."

Review logs and iterate

Monitor automated workflows for failures, false positives, or missed cases. Use this feedback to refine prompts and improve accuracy over time.

"The automated code review flagged 5 false positives this week. Add to the automation: 'Don't flag console.log in test files' and 'Allow TODO comments with linked tickets'. Update the workflow and redeploy."

Document and share systems

Make your automated workflows discoverable and reusable. Document how they work, when to use them, and how to modify them. This multiplies impact across your team.

"Create AUTOMATION.md documenting our Claude Code systems: API client generation (pre-commit), code review (PR automation), test scaffolding (npm script). Include usage examples and how to update prompts."

Example prompts

Automating code reviews

"Build a code review automation system: 1) Reads git diff, 2) Checks for: missing tests, security issues, performance anti-patterns, style violations, 3) Outputs markdown report. Package as a pre-push git hook. Include instructions for installation."

Generating boilerplate on demand

"Create an npm script 'generate:crud' that takes a model name and generates: TypeScript model class, Prisma schema, CRUD API routes, test suite skeleton, OpenAPI spec. Follow our project conventions in Claude.md. Make it idempotent—running twice should be safe."

Automated documentation updates

"Build a system that runs weekly: scans src/ for exported functions, generates API documentation, updates docs/api.md. If the documentation changed, creates a PR with the updates. Use Claude Code headless mode and GitHub CLI."

Continuous quality monitoring

"Create a daily scheduled job that: analyzes recent commits, identifies patterns of repeated bugs or style issues, updates Claude.md with new guidelines to prevent future occurrences. Email a weekly summary to the team."

Expected outputs

Automated workflows

Scripts, hooks, and CI/CD integrations that execute Claude Code tasks without manual intervention

Consistent quality

Standardized checks and generation patterns ensure consistency across the team and over time

Compounding gains

Each automated workflow saves time repeatedly, creating exponential productivity improvements as systems accumulate

Team force multiplication

Automated systems scale expertise—junior developers get senior-level guidance automatically through well-designed workflows

Best practices

Start small with one high-frequency task—automate your biggest time sink first, then expand

Build in failure handling and logging—automated systems need observability to debug when they break

Make systems opt-in initially—test with early adopters before forcing team-wide adoption

Version control your automation prompts—treat them as code, review changes, track what works

Measure impact quantitatively—track time saved, errors prevented, or consistency improvements to justify investment

Common pitfalls

Over-automating low-frequency tasks

Solution: Automate tasks you do weekly or more. If it's monthly or rare, manual execution with good documentation is more cost-effective than building automation.

Creating brittle automations without error handling

Solution: Build in fallbacks: if automation fails, log the error and notify someone. Don't silently fail or block critical workflows.

Not maintaining automated systems

Solution: Schedule quarterly reviews of automation. Update for codebase changes, refine prompts, remove obsolete systems. Automation rots like code.

Pro tips

Build progressive automation

""Start with: script generates code, you review and commit. Then: script generates and creates PR. Finally: script generates, runs tests, auto-merges if green. Increase automation confidence gradually.""

Create automation templates

""Build reusable templates: 'PR Review Bot Template', 'Code Generator Template', 'Documentation Sync Template'. New automations start from proven patterns, saving setup time.""

Integrate with existing tools

""Connect Claude Code automation to tools you already use: Slack for notifications, Jira for ticket creation, Datadog for monitoring. Don't build parallel systems—extend what exists.""

Related workflows

CI/CD Automation Claude.md Test Generation