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Last week, Anthropic dropped a 30-minute masterclass on Claude Code. I watched it so you don't have to.
Here's what actually matters: their engineers cut onboarding from 3 weeks to 3 days, and they're running 10+ AI agents in parallel.
But the real gold for indie creators?
Three specific workflows that turn a command line into your smartest teammate.
Let's skip the fluff and dive right into the value!
🎯 Why Claude Code ≠ Another AI IDE
The big difference: While Cursor and Copilot live inside your editor, Claude Code lives in your terminal.
This matters because:
No IDE lock-in. Keep VS Code, Vim, or whatever you use (you can even use Cursor with Claude Code)
Works everywhere. Local, SSH, Docker, CI/CD pipelines
Reuse your Claude Subscription. Recently, Claude has allowed Claude Pro Users ($17/month subscription) to use their subscriptions for the Claude Code. No API keys needed!
No indexing. Your code stays on your machine
Unix philosophy. Pipe in, pipe out, compose with any tool
The Pro Plan has undergone a massive upgrade this week! You can use Claude Code with the cheaper subscription. Previously, you needed Max for that!
Boris Cherny (Claude Code's creator) predicts IDEs will become obsolete by year-end. Bold claim, but after using these workflows, I see why.
Let's dive into the workflows!
🚦 Workflow #1: Ask First, Code Later
When to use: New codebase, confusing function, or what were they thinking? moments.
The steps:
Ask a question
Read the answer
Keep asking until you are confident
(Optionally) Create a report describing the features so you can come back to it later.
Copy-paste prompts:
"How is RoutingController.py used?"
"Why does loadUser have 15 arguments?"
"Show every commit that changed payment_utils.go"
Why this works: Claude searches files and Git history locally, then explains in plain English. No setup, no risk of breaking anything.
Example of Claude Code analyzing the codebase that I’ve been working on.
Pro tip: This replaced senior dev interruptions at Anthropic. New hires explore solo instead of scheduling knowledge transfers.
📝 Workflow #2: The Planning Loop
When to use: Any feature that touches multiple files.
The steps:
Explore – Ask Claude about the existing code
Plan – Say make a plan before coding.
Confirm – Review the plan, approve it
Code – Let Claude implement
Commit – Type
commit, push, pr
Real prompt:
You can ask Claude Code to analyze your codebase and prepare TODOs for your project:
It’s a great feature, because previously there were tools for doing exactly this (e.g. Task Master AI) - Claude Code handles planning out of the box!
🚀 Let Claude Learn Your Project with /init
The Tip: The very first thing you should do in a new project is run the /init command. Claude will analyze your entire codebase and create a CLAUDE.md file, which is a summary map of your project's structure, technologies, and key patterns.
Why it Helps: This gives the AI deep context. It won't have to guess where things are or what technologies you're using. This leads to much faster and more accurate suggestions right from the start.
I already ran /init in my project, so Claude Code skipped creating a new one
CLAUDE.md is added as additional context to every session!
CLAUDE.md generated for my project
🛡️ Workflow #3: The Planning Loop
When to use: Complex logic or when you want bulletproof code.
The steps:
Write tests first – Claude creates failing tests
Commit tests – Lock them in
Code – Claude implements until tests pass
Iterate – Auto-fixes failures
Commit – Ship when green
Real prompt:
"Create failing Jest tests for password reset flow.
Then implement the feature until all tests pass."
Bonus for UI work: Give Claude a mockup + screenshot tool. It'll iterate until pixel-perfect:
"Using mock.png, build that profile card.
Screenshot after each attempt and refine until it matches."
Time to Wrap Up!
Start Today
Your action plan for today. Go to Claude Code and:
Install:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-codeConfigure: Run
claudethen/terminal-setupTest: Ask about any confusing function in your codebase
What's your first Claude Code experiment going to be? Reply and let me know.
Keep shipping,
Luke