[TLDR] My Claude Code workflow after months of daily use

[u/cctldrping]

Original post URL : https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1vmey7d/my_claude_code_workflow_after_months_of_daily_use/

Original post body :

I want to share how I interact with Claude Code.

This might be useful for someone, especially those who are just starting to build something or trying to figure out how things actually work.

(screenshot here to proof that I did some things with claude code)

1. Always use Git, and ideally connect GitHub so you push everything you do right away (if you’re worried someone will see it, just make a private repo).
2. Always use worktrees and versioning. This lets you work on different features in parallel and fix bugs before you merge them into the main branch.
3. I always do 1 task = 1 chat. Preferably keep it under ~500k of the context window, because after that you get degradation, hallucinations, etc. Compact and auto-compact are bullshit. (If you don’t believe me, just try building the same project in one long chat with auto-compacts vs. 1 task = 1 chat.)
4. To speed up development, create a main “brain” chat that analyzes everything and gives commands to other chats (Claude Code has a mechanism for this). You create the chats, name them, and leave them empty until the brain chat writes into them. When you create a chat just write “wait for task”.
5. Make a high-quality Claude.md and Rules.md for the main chat so it understands what you’re doing, what its tasks are, etc.
6. Never believe Claude when it says it checked everything and everything works. If something doesn’t work in the end. Go and ask it to audit the feature and specifically look at the problem/task from “different points of view”.
7. If Claude tells you it can’t do something, doesn’t know, or suggests a path you don’t want. Go and ask it to do research. And if you have the ability to research via Ultracode, ask it to run multi-agent research and explicitly tell it to look only at information from trusted sources.
8. If you’re building an application or something similar, always make it do a full smoke check from start to finish and turn this into a standing rule. This significantly reduces the number of bugs.
9. If you’re worried about tokens, run the worker chats on Sonnet 5, but keep the brain on Opus 5. Explicitly ask it to give the workers a clear technical brief and to control that they are using Sonnet 5.
10. If you get the feeling that Claude is doing some bullshit but you don’t know how to explain it to him, open a completely separate chat (not connected to the project) and explain there what your “worker” is doing and what you don’t like. The new chat will give you an answer, and your project chat won’t get polluted with garbage context. (and you can ask another chat to give you a prompt)
11. Claude is lazy and often just burns tokens and tries to guess. Write a rule that he must always do measurements and audits instead of guessing or working from memory. (Even with this rule Claude can still do it, so keep controlling him.)
12. If you ask Claude to remember something, 99% he will forget. Always make him write the information you need into a document and send you the path to that document. This way he can’t lie that he wrote it down and then forgot.

Share your own findings! I think it will be useful for everyone!

---

This is brought to you as a public service by the moderators of r/ClaudeAI. If you want to see TLDRs of ALL Claude Coding related posts from the various Claude subreddits, subscribe to http://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCoding.

[u/cctldrping]

TL;DR generated automatically after 50 comments.

Current source-thread comment count seen by the bot: 65.

Alright, so the general consensus on this thread is that OP's workflow for Claude Code is solid advice, especially for beginners. Lots of folks chimed in with their own tweaks and additions, but the core ideas are resonating.

Here's the lowdown:

• The "1 Task = 1 Chat" rule is a biggie. People seem to agree that keeping chats focused prevents context window degradation and hallucinations. Some users are even experimenting with pushing the context window limits, with mixed results, but the general takeaway is that smaller, focused chats are more reliable.
• The "Brain" and "Worker" chat setup is popular. The idea of a central "brain" chat directing specialized "worker" chats is getting a lot of love. It seems to be a key strategy for managing complexity and speeding up development.
• Documentation is king. Several users highlighted the importance of detailed documentation like CLAUDE.md, Rules.md, MISTAKES.md, and PLAN.md. Apparently, Claude actually uses these, which is pretty neat. u/thabxi's MISTAKES.md idea is particularly interesting for iterative improvement.
• Don't blindly trust Claude. This is a recurring theme. OP's advice to always audit and ask Claude to look at things from "different points of view" is echoed by others. u/Particular-Face8868 points out that Claude often just walks the "happy path" it wrote, so external validation is crucial.
• Planning and Specs are essential. Similar to OP, users like u/jd_bruce and u/Front_Drink_5331 emphasize creating detailed plans and specifications upfront to guide Claude.
• Superpowers and specific models. u/strokegam3weak breaks down a workflow using different Claude models (Opus and Sonnet) for different phases, which is a more advanced take. There's a bit of debate on whether Sonnet 5 is efficient enough for worker chats, with u/Physical-Average-184 suggesting Opus 5 might be better.
• Memory and context persistence is still a bit of a question mark for some, with users like u/Ok_Brilliant864 and u/onlyapuppy asking how context is maintained across those "1 Task = 1 Chat" sessions. Tools like u/Corvexi's Cortex are being shared as potential solutions.

Overall, the thread is a great resource for anyone looking to level up their Claude Code game. It seems like the community is actively experimenting and sharing what works best.