40+ tips from basics to advanced by ykdojo
FDEs (forward deployed engineers) build AI agents inside real companies. FDE Info is a free weekly email on how they work and how to become one.
Show model, git branch, token usage bar, and last message. Supports 10 color themes.
Use local voice transcription (superwhisper, MacWhisper) to communicate faster.
Use pbcopy for clipboard, write to files, open URLs in browser, or launch GitHub Desktop.
Create short aliases: c for claude, gb for GitHub Desktop, co for VS Code.
Create a skill that uses Gemini CLI via tmux to fetch sites Claude can't access.
All conversations stored in ~/.claude/projects/. Search with grep or ask Claude directly.
Use /clone to duplicate a conversation with new UUIDs. Try different approaches without losing the original.
Get full absolute paths with realpath when telling Claude about files in different folders.
Use cc-safe to scan for risky approved commands: rm -rf, sudo, chmod 777, curl | sh.
Press Ctrl+B to move long-running bash commands to background. Claude can check on them later.
Use keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+W deletes word, Ctrl+U clears line, Ctrl+A/E jump to start/end.
Select all and paste content Claude can't fetch - private pages, Reddit, terminal output.
Use the cascade method: new tasks open right, sweep left to right. Focus on 3-4 tasks max.
Give context, dictate with voice for first draft, then go line-by-line refining together.
Write blog posts, docs, LinkedIn posts in markdown. Paste into Notion to convert for other platforms.
Paste text with links into Notion first, then copy from Notion to get markdown with preserved URLs.
Research GitHub Actions failures, Reddit sentiment, codebases, public info. Give it the right access.
Write tests, use visual Git clients, create draft PRs, or ask Claude to verify every claim with a table.
Have Claude write tests for its code. TDD works great: write failing tests, commit, then implement.
Plan at higher abstraction using Claude's knowledge. Prototype fast, then delete and rebuild if needed.
When Claude creates tangled messes, ask it to simplify. It's good at recognizing its own complexity.
Start fresh conversations for new topics. Performance degrades as context grows.
Write handoff documents before starting fresh. Use /compact or create HANDOFF.md.
Let Claude handle commits, branches, PRs. Create draft PRs for safe review.
Work on multiple branches simultaneously in different directories. Just ask Claude to create one.
Retrieve PR with gh, then review interactively - file by file, at your pace, with optional test runs.
Give Claude a way to verify results. Use tmux for interactive testing.
Check status with increasing intervals: 1min, 2min, 4min. More token-efficient than gh run watch.
Run --dangerously-skip-permissions in Docker containers. Safe for research and long autonomous tasks.
Debug GitHub Actions failures, find root causes, identify flaky tests. Use /gha for automated investigation.
Patch the CLI to reduce system prompt from ~18k to ~10k tokens. Saves 41% of static overhead.
CLAUDE.md loads always. Skills load when relevant. Slash commands are user-invoked. Plugins bundle everything.
Start with no CLAUDE.md. Add things only when you keep repeating yourself. Let Claude edit it.
If Claude can't one-shot a task, break it into sub-problems. Go A→A1→A2→A3→B instead of A→B.
Build custom tools, maintain your CLAUDE.md, learn key features. Small investments compound.
Like rock climbing - you get better by doing it. Think billion token rule instead of 10,000 hours.
Edit videos with ffmpeg, transcribe audio, analyze CSVs, clean up disk space. Claude figures out the tools.
Sometimes vibe-code from above, sometimes dive deep into lines and dependencies. It's not binary.
Dig into unfamiliar codebases and languages. Iterate with Claude - suggest solutions, experiment, adjust.
Build custom tools for yourself - transcription apps, data viz, CLI wrappers. Small projects in hours.
Use Claude to build systems that automate your work with Claude: skills, scripts, workflows.
Share tips, build tools, make PRs. The community learns together. Links to contribute here.
Follow updates, try new features, experiment. Claude Code is evolving fast. Stay curious.