Claude Code has emerged as a powerful tool for complex problem solving and code review. To maximize its effectiveness, understanding and implementing specific best practices can significantly improve your development workflow.
These are some of the claude code best practices which I and a lot of developers use. Due to context limitations and expensive API calls it can sometimes be frustrating to use AI assisted development tools. So, the focus should be on optimizing how the AI assistant understands your codebase, processes context, and delivers results. These practices help reduce token usage, improve response speeds, and ensure more accurate code generation.
Add a CLAUDE File to Explain Your Code
One of the most important practice is creating a CLAUDE.md file in your project root. This file serves as documentation specifically for Claude Code, explaining your project's structure, conventions, and specific requirements. You can also ask claude code to generate this file using /init command.
This is how it usually looks like.
# Project Instructions for My Project
## Project Overview
Brief description of what this project does
## Architecture
Explanation of the project structure and key architectural decisions
## Coding Conventions
- TypeScript strict mode enabled
- Use functional components only
- Follow existing naming patterns
## Important Notes
- Any specific patterns or gotchas developers should know
Benefits of a CLAUDE File
- Context preservation: Maintains project-specific knowledge across sessions
- Consistency: Ensures Claude follows your established patterns
- Reduced repetition: Eliminates the need to re-explain conventions
- Better code generation: More aligned with your project's style
Implement Sub-Agents with Senior Developer Personas
Adding sub-agents with specific personas can dramatically improve the quality of assistance you receive. I have a senior developer persona in my claude code and in my CLAUDE.md I mentioned to always use that agent. You can generate sub agent text from ChatGPT or similar LLM and then add it to claude code using /agents command.
The senior developer persona ensures that all code suggestions are production-ready, follow industry best practices, and consider long-term maintainability. You can also share your own high level practices which you always adhere so it follows them when generating code.
Enable Thinking Mode for Custom Models
Reasoning models are usually better than non-reasoning ones so if your models supports reasoning then why not enable it. This allows the model to reason through problems more thoroughly before generating solutions. They generate more robust solutions This is particularly important when working with custom models that may have different reasoning capabilities or when dealing with complex architectural decisions.
You can enable it by setting alwaysThinkingEnabled flag as true in settings.json
Use Clear Commands for New Features
When developing a new feature, using the /clear command is crucial because old context can corrupt and interfere with new feature development. The reason why I do this is because if in my previous context the AI generated some wrong code which I fixed manually then it will try to add something similar to next feature too as it reads the previous context. It is better to clear everything first and then start with the next feature.
This ensures Claude Code approaches the new feature with fresh context, free from assumptions and patterns that may not apply. Think of it as starting a new conversation specifically for this feature.
Use Compress to Reduce Token Usage and Improve Speed
The compress feature is a powerful optimization tool that can significantly reduce token usage while improving response speeds. I know that there is an auto compress in Claude code and most other AI development tools but using large contexts means every API request costs more and is usually slower too. Due to this, you costs can increase and if you are using subscription with limited requests they will be quickly filled so better to compress contexts as soon as you can. Now, when should you compress it would depend on how big your project is and some other factors but try experimenting with it and see what works best for you.
Claude Code best practices revolve around effective context management, leveraging specialized expertise, and optimizing performance. By implementing CLAUDE files, using senior developer sub-agents, enabling thinking mode, clearing context appropriately, and compressing conversations, you create an environment where AI assistance works seamlessly with your development workflow.