Common workflows
Step-by-step guides for exploring codebases, fixing bugs, refactoring, testing, and other everyday tasks with Claude Code.
This page collects short recipes for everyday development. For higher-level guidance on prompting and context management, see Best practices.
This page covers:
- Prompt recipes for exploring code, fixing bugs, refactoring, testing, PRs, and documentation
- Resume previous conversations so a task can span multiple sittings
- Run parallel sessions with worktrees so concurrent edits don't collide
- Plan before editing to review changes before they touch disk
- Delegate research to subagents to keep your main context clean
- Pipe Claude into scripts for CI and batch processing
Prompt recipes
These are prompt patterns for everyday tasks like exploring unfamiliar code, debugging, refactoring, writing tests, and creating PRs. Each works in any Claude Code surface; adapt the wording to your project.
Understand new codebases
Get a quick codebase overview
Suppose you've just joined a new project and need to understand its structure quickly.
Navigate to the project root directory
cd /path/to/project
Start Claude Code
claude
Ask for a high-level overview
give me an overview of this codebase
Dive deeper into specific components
explain the main architecture patterns used here
what are the key data models?
how is authentication handled?
Find relevant code
Suppose you need to locate code related to a specific feature or functionality.
Ask Claude to find relevant files
find the files that handle user authentication
Get context on how components interact
how do these authentication files work together?
Understand the execution flow
trace the login process from front-end to database
Fix bugs efficiently
Suppose you've encountered an error message and need to find and fix its source.
Share the error with Claude
I'm seeing an error when I run npm test
Ask for fix recommendations
suggest a few ways to fix the @ts-ignore in user.ts
Apply the fix
update user.ts to add the null check you suggested
Refactor code
Suppose you need to update old code to use modern patterns and practices.
Identify legacy code for refactoring
find deprecated API usage in our codebase
Get refactoring recommendations
suggest how to refactor utils.js to use modern JavaScript features
Apply the changes safely
refactor utils.js to use ES2024 features while maintaining the same behavior
Verify the refactoring
run tests for the refactored code
Work with tests
Suppose you need to add tests for uncovered code.
Identify untested code
find functions in NotificationsService.swift that are not covered by tests
Generate test scaffolding
add tests for the notification service
Add meaningful test cases
add test cases for edge conditions in the notification service
Run and verify tests
run the new tests and fix any failures
Claude can generate tests that follow your project's existing patterns and conventions. When asking for tests, be specific about what behavior you want to verify. Claude examines your existing test files to match the style, frameworks, and assertion patterns already in use.
For comprehensive coverage, ask Claude to identify edge cases you might have missed. Claude can analyze your code paths and suggest tests for error conditions, boundary values, and unexpected inputs that are easy to overlook.
Create pull requests
You can create pull requests by asking Claude directly ("create a pr for my changes"), or guide Claude through it step-by-step:
Summarize your changes
summarize the changes I've made to the authentication module
Generate a pull request
create a pr
Review and refine
enhance the PR description with more context about the security improvements
When you create a PR using gh pr create, the session is automatically linked to that PR. To return to it later, run claude --from-pr <number> or paste the PR URL into the /resume picker search.
Handle documentation
Suppose you need to add or update documentation for your code.
Identify undocumented code
find functions without proper JSDoc comments in the auth module
Generate documentation
add JSDoc comments to the undocumented functions in auth.js
Review and enhance
improve the generated documentation with more context and examples
Verify documentation
check if the documentation follows our project standards
Work in notes and non-code folders
Claude Code works in any directory. Run it inside a notes vault, a documentation folder, or any collection of markdown files to search, edit, and reorganize content the same way you would code.
The .claude/ directory and CLAUDE.md sit alongside other tools' config directories without conflict. Claude reads files fresh on each tool call, so it sees edits you make in another application the next time it reads that file.
Work with images
Suppose you need to work with images in your codebase, and you want Claude's help analyzing image content.
Add an image to the conversation
You can use any of these methods:
- Drag and drop an image into the Claude Code window
- Copy an image and paste it into the CLI with ctrl+v (Do not use cmd+v)
- Provide an image path to Claude. E.g., "Analyze this image: /path/to/your/image.png"
Ask Claude to analyze the image
What does this image show?
Describe the UI elements in this screenshot
Are there any problematic elements in this diagram?
Use images for context
Here's a screenshot of the error. What's causing it?
This is our current database schema. How should we modify it for the new feature?
Get code suggestions from visual content
Generate CSS to match this design mockup
What HTML structure would recreate this component?
Reference files and directories
Use @ to quickly include files or directories without waiting for Claude to read them.
Reference a single file
Explain the logic in @src/utils/auth.js
This includes the full content of the file in the conversation.
Reference a directory
What's the structure of @src/components?
This provides a directory listing with file information.
Reference MCP resources
Show me the data from @github:repos/owner/repo/issues
This fetches data from connected MCP servers using the format @server:resource. See MCP resources for details.
Run Claude on a schedule
Suppose you want Claude to handle a task automatically on a recurring basis, like reviewing open PRs every morning, auditing dependencies weekly, or checking for CI failures overnight.
Pick a scheduling option based on where you want the task to run:
| Option | Where it runs | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Routines | Anthropic-managed infrastructure | Tasks that should run even when your computer is off. Can also trigger on API calls or GitHub events in addition to a schedule. Configure at claude.ai/code/routines. |
| Desktop scheduled tasks | Your machine, via the desktop app | Tasks that need direct access to local files, tools, or uncommitted changes. |
| GitHub Actions | Your CI pipeline | Tasks tied to repo events like opened PRs, or cron schedules that should live alongside your workflow config. |
/loop |
The current CLI session | Quick polling while a session is open. Tasks stop when you start a new conversation; --resume and --continue restore unexpired ones. |
Ask Claude about its capabilities
Claude has built-in access to its documentation and can answer questions about its own features and limitations.
Example questions
can Claude Code create pull requests?
how does Claude Code handle permissions?
what skills are available?
how do I use MCP with Claude Code?
how do I configure Claude Code for Amazon Bedrock?
what are the limitations of Claude Code?
Resume previous conversations
When a task spans multiple sittings, pick up where you left off instead of re-explaining context. Claude Code saves every conversation locally.
claude --continue
This resumes the most recent session in the current directory; if there isn't one yet, it prints No conversation found to continue and exits. Use claude --resume to choose from a list, or /resume from inside a running session. See Manage sessions for naming, branching, and the full picker reference.
Run parallel sessions with worktrees
Work on a feature in one terminal while Claude fixes a bug in another, without the edits colliding. Each worktree is a separate checkout on its own branch.
claude --worktree feature-auth
Run the same command with a different name in a second terminal to start an isolated parallel session. See Worktrees for cleanup, .worktreeinclude, and non-git VCS support. To monitor parallel sessions from one screen instead of separate terminals, see background agents.
Plan before editing
For changes you want to review before they touch disk, switch to plan mode. Claude reads files and proposes a plan but makes no edits until you approve.
claude --permission-mode plan
You can also press Shift+Tab mid-session to toggle into plan mode. See Plan mode for the approval flow and editing the plan in your text editor.
Delegate research to subagents
Exploring a large codebase fills your context with file reads. Delegate the exploration so only the findings come back.
use a subagent to investigate how our auth system handles token refresh
The subagent reads files in its own context window and reports a summary. See Subagents for defining custom agents with their own tools and prompts.
Pipe Claude into scripts
Run Claude non-interactively for CI, pre-commit hooks, or batch processing. Stdin and stdout work like any Unix tool.
git log --oneline -20 | claude -p "summarize these recent commits"
See Non-interactive mode for output formats, permission flags, and fan-out patterns.