Become a Claude Code power user in minutes

Let's talk about the elephant in every Claude Code room: context management. You're humming along, building features at warp speed, and then suddenly Claude starts forgetting what you were working on five minutes ago. Sound familiar? Your context is burnt to a crisp, and your productivity just went from sizzling to stone cold.

Here's the thing - Claude Code isn't just another AI coding assistant you can throw prompts at randomly. It's a sophisticated development environment that rewards engineers who understand its architecture. Master the context game, and you'll be cooking with gas. Ignore it, and you'll spend more time fighting the tool than building features.

After months of daily Claude Code usage in production environments, we've distilled the techniques that separate the tourists from the locals. These aren't your typical "write better prompts" tips - this is the secret sauce for architecting your entire AI-powered workflow for maximum efficiency.

The 60K Token Reality Check

First rule of Claude Code club: respect the context window. Once you're approaching 60,000 tokens, it's not time to "push through" - it's time to clear chat and start fresh. Think of it like memory management in systems programming. You wouldn't let a memory leak run wild in production Rust code, so why let context bloat destroy your AI pair programmer?

The symptoms are obvious once you know what to look for: Claude starts forgetting recent instructions, mixing up variable names, or suggesting patterns you explicitly said to avoid five minutes ago. It's like watching a chef forget what dish they're making mid-service. The context isn't just full - it's overflowing, and the oldest (often most important) instructions are getting pushed out.

Here's the brutal truth: if you're loading more than 20,000 tokens worth of MCP tools, you're essentially shooting yourself in the foot. That leaves you with a measly 20,000 tokens for actual work before everything falls apart. It's like trying to run a modern web app with 512MB of RAM - technically possible, but why would you do that to yourself?

Pro tip: Watch the token counter with /context or check your current usage in the UI. When you hit 40-50K tokens, start planning your exit strategy. Save important decisions to markdown files, document your current approach, then /clear and reload only what's essential. It's not giving up - it's strategic resource management. The best chefs know when to clean their station and start fresh, and the best engineers know when to reset their context and continue cooking.

Custom Markdown Files: Your Secret Weapon

Those CLAUDE.md markdown files aren't just nice-to-have documentation - they're your context-efficient knowledge base with a powerful hierarchical structure. Claude Code loads these automatically from four levels, each with its own purpose:

Enterprise (/Library/Application Support/ClaudeCode/CLAUDE.md on macOS): Organization-wide standards set by your DevOps team
Project (./CLAUDE.md): Team-shared instructions that travel with your repo
User (~/.claude/CLAUDE.md): Your personal preferences across all projects
Local (./CLAUDE.local.md): Project-specific overrides that never get committed (deprecated but still works)

Files load from top to bottom, with higher levels taking precedence. It's like a perfectly organized mise en place - company policies set the foundation, project rules add the specifics, and your personal touch goes on top.

Here's the game-changer: use the @path/to/file import syntax to keep your main CLAUDE.md lean while pulling in context as needed:

See @README for project overview and @package.json for dependencies

# Architecture
- API design: @docs/api-guidelines.md
- Database schema: @schema.prisma
- Only load performance docs when needed: @docs/performance-tuning.md

Keep your top-level markdown files focused and your subdirectory imports under 100 lines. Every single piece of information should earn its place in that context window. Ask yourself: "Does Claude need to know this for every single interaction?" If not, it belongs in an imported file or specialized subagent.

Pro tip: Start any message with # to quickly add a memory - Claude will prompt you to choose which level to save it to. # Always use Result types in Rust becomes a permanent instruction without editing files manually. It's like seasoning your workspace - one preference at a time, building up to your perfect flavor profile.

Slash Commands: The Productivity Multiplier

Want to know what separates casual Claude users from power users? Custom slash commands. Drop a markdown file in ~/.claude/commands/ or .claude/commands/, and you've got a reusable workflow - optimize.md becomes /optimize, ready to execute with a single command.

Here's a pattern that's transformed our workflow - create specialized command sequences that use $ARGUMENTS or $1, $2for parameters. For example, we built a three-phase feature development flow:

Investigation phase (/investigate): Spawns parallel agents to explore and document relevant code sections. Uses frontmatter allowed-tools: [Read, Grep] to keep it lightweight.

Planning phase (/plan): Fresh chat with condensed documentation, creates parallel implementation plan. Can execute bash commands with the ! prefix to check branch status.

Implementation phase (/implement): New agents for each task, working from the plan with perfect context. Full tool access for actual building.

Each phase starts with optimal context for its specific job. No bloat, no confusion, just focused execution.

Pro tip: Use subdirectories for organization - .claude/commands/rust/async.md creates /async labeled "(project:rust)". Your Rust optimizer doesn't clash with your TypeScript commands, and everything stays perfectly seasoned for its specific purpose.

Output Styles: Program Your AI Partner

The /output-style:new command is criminally underutilized. This isn't just about formatting preferences - it's about encoding your entire workflow into Claude's DNA. Create custom styles that live in ~/.claude/output-styles/ (user-level) or .claude/output-styles/ (project-specific).

Here's the secret ingredient: you control whether to append or replace Claude's system prompt. Use --append-system-promptto add your instructions to Claude's existing behavior, or omit it entirely to replace Claude's system prompt with your own custom instructions. Most of the time, appending is what you want - you keep Claude's core capabilities while adding your team's specific patterns.

Include your MCP tool preferences, your coding patterns, your debugging approaches. Want Claude to always use async/await instead of .then()? Prefer early returns over nested conditionals? Encode it once:

---
name: production-rust
---
--append-system-prompt
Always use Result types for error handling. Prefer ? operator over match for simple propagation. Use anyhow for application errors, thiserror for library errors. Never use unwrap() except in tests. Performance matters - comment on any O(n²) operations.

Switch styles with /output-style production-rust and watch Claude automatically apply your team's standards. Think of it as dependency injection for AI - instead of repeating instructions in every prompt, you inject them once at the configuration level. Your output style becomes your team's coding standards, automatically applied to every interaction.

Pro tip: Create different styles for different phases - exploration for quick prototypes with TODO markers, production for deployment-ready code with comprehensive error handling. One command switches Claude's entire personality to match your current needs.

Subagents: Delegate Like a Tech Lead

Context is a finite resource, and trying to do everything in one chat is like trying to fit your entire monolith into a single microservice. Subagents let you delegate with surgical precision - think of them as your specialized sous chefs in the coding kitchen.

Store them in .claude/agents/ (project-specific) or ~/.claude/agents/ (available everywhere). Each agent gets its own YAML file with a simple recipe: name, description, tools, and model. The /agents command gives you an interactive interface to spawn, modify, or chain them together.

Need to find relevant code? Spawn a lightweight Haiku-powered code-finder agent that searches your codebase and returns only what's needed:

name: code-explorer
description: Find and summarize relevant code sections without loading full context
tools: Read, Grep, Bash
model: haiku

Building a complex Rust async system? Use our specialized Rust architect agent that inherits your main model but focuses purely on design.

The real power comes from chaining. Each subagent starts fresh, gets the perfect prompt from your main agent (which has all the context but is too deep to implement), and delivers focused results. Your main conversation orchestrates while subagents execute - it's distributed computing for AI assistance.

Pro tip: Keep your description field action-oriented and specific. Claude uses these descriptions to automatically select the right subagent when you ask it to delegate. "Find all database queries in the codebase" beats "code search helper" every time. The more specific your sous chef's role, the better they perform in your kitchen.

Planning Mode: Think Before You Code

Claude without planning mode is like a junior developer who starts coding before understanding the requirements. Sure, they might get lucky, but you wouldn't bet your production system on it.

Start new chats in planning mode. Let Claude think through the problem space before diving into implementation. But here's the pro tip: don't just blindly approve every plan. Bad plans compound into worse implementations. If the plan seems off, copy it to a markdown file and start fresh. Building plans burns context - don't waste it on iterations when you can start clean.

Hooks: Your Automated Code Review

Hooks are where Claude Code goes from assistant to actual team member. Set up hooks that catch common anti-patterns in real-time, inject context automatically, and enforce your coding standards without lifting a finger.

Think of hooks as event listeners for your AI workflow. Every time Claude reaches for a tool, submits a prompt, or starts a session, your hooks can intercept, modify, or enhance what happens next. The real power? They're not just catching mistakes - they're teaching Claude your team's patterns in real-time.

Hook Events That Matter

PreToolUse: Blocks dangerous operations before they happen. Use the pattern mcp__<server>__<tool> to target specific MCP tools - like mcp__supabase__insert for database writes.

PostToolUse: Feeds results back to Claude automatically. Just ran a test? Your hook can parse the output and tell Claude exactly what failed.

UserPromptSubmit: Enhances prompts before Claude sees them. Mention "rust performance" and your hook injects your team's optimization guidelines. The additionalContext field is your secret weapon here.

Stop/SubagentStop: Forces Claude to continue when you need complete implementations. Set "decision": "block" with a reason, and Claude keeps cooking.

A Hook That Ships

Here's a production hook that's prevented countless TODO comments from entering our codebase:

{
  "hooks": [
    {
      "event": "PreToolUse",
      "matcher": "Write|Edit",
      "type": "command",
      "command": "grep -q 'TODO\\|PLACEHOLDER\\|your_.*_here' && echo '{\"permissionDecision\": \"deny\", \"permissionDecisionReason\": \"No placeholders. Implement concrete solutions.\"}' || echo '{\"permissionDecision\": \"allow\"}'"
    }
  ]
}

Configure hooks at three levels: user (~/.claude/settings.json), project (.claude/settings.json), or local (.claude/settings.local.json). Use $CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR in commands to reference project scripts. Debug with /hooks and claude --debug when things aren't firing.

This isn't just convenience - it's about maintaining quality at scale. Every hook is a lesson Claude doesn't have to relearn, a mistake it doesn't have to repeat. Build your hook infrastructure once, and watch your error rate plummet while your velocity soars.

Custom MCPs: Less Is More

The default MCP installations are context destroyers. That Supabase MCP with 47 tools? You're probably using three of them. Build custom MCPs that include only what you need, with hyper-efficient markdown output.

Here's an MCP boilerplate that includes Claude-specific documentation, installation commands, and token-efficient templates. Start a new chat, tell Claude to build an MCP for your specific use case, and watch it work out of the box.

Markdown Files: Your Conversation Memory

Markdown files aren't just output - they're your long-term conversation storage. Every significant discussion, every architectural decision, every solved problem should be persisted to markdown. Starting a new conversation? Reference those files instead of trying to rebuild context from scratch.

Think of it as event sourcing for AI conversations. You're building an append-only log of knowledge that compounds over time.

The Documentation Advantage

Here's what separates professionals from amateurs in any field: professionals read the documentation. The Claude Code docs aren't just a reference manual - they're the operator's guide to your most powerful development tool.

Understand token limits, prompt caching, context management strategies. Know which models excel at what tasks. Learn the difference between system prompts and user messages. This isn't academic knowledge - it directly translates to shipping velocity.

Ship Faster, Ship Smarter

These techniques aren't about making Claude Code do your job for you. They're about amplifying what you're already capable of. A master carpenter doesn't fear power tools - they understand exactly when and how to use them.

The engineers who thrive in this new era aren't the ones trying to preserve the old ways or the ones blindly trusting AI to do everything. They're the ones who understand that AI is a tool, context is a resource, and productivity is a system.

Master the context game. Build your custom toolkit. Delegate intelligently. Most importantly, remember that Claude Code is only as effective as the engineer wielding it. These optimizations aren't just about saving tokens - they're about building a sustainable, scalable workflow that lets you focus on what actually matters: shipping exceptional software.

Ready to level up your Claude Code game? Start with one technique, master it, then add another. Before you know it, you'll be operating at a level you didn't think was possible. The future of development isn't about AI replacing engineers - it's about engineers who've mastered AI replacing those who haven't.

Now stop reading and start optimizing. Your context window is waiting, and it's time to serve up some piping hot productivity.