Workflow Tips

Efficient Claude Code development workflows to boost team productivity

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This guide covers how to integrate Claude Code into your daily development workflow, from personal efficiency to team collaboration, establishing efficient AI-assisted development processes.

Plan-Execute Workflow¶

The most effective Claude Code pattern is plan first, execute later—avoid having AI write code directly.

Basic Flow¶

1. Analyze Requirements → 2. Create Plan → 3. Confirm Plan → 4. Execute Step by Step → 5. Verify Results

Practical Steps¶

Step 1: Have Claude Understand Requirements

> Read the code in @src/services/ directory and understand the existing architecture.
> Don't write any code, just analyze.

Step 2: Create Implementation Plan

> Based on your understanding of the existing code, create a detailed implementation plan for "user permission management".
> Include: file changes, new files, dependencies, risk points.

Step 3: Confirm and Adjust Plan

Review Claude's plan and suggest modifications:

> In step 3 of the plan, I want to use Redis cache instead of memory cache. Please adjust the plan.

Step 4: Execute Step by Step

> Now execute step 1 of the plan: create the permission model.

After completing each step, verify results before continuing.

Feature Branch Workflow¶

Git Branch Best Practices¶

# 1. Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/user-permissions

# 2. Navigate to project and start Claude Code
cd your-project && claude

# 3. Commit frequently during development
> Commit this change  # First commit
# Continue developing...
> Commit this change  # Second commit

# 4. Feature complete, create PR
> Create a PR description for the current branch, summarizing all commit changes

Commit Frequency Tips¶

• Small commits: Commit after each independent feature point

• Commit messages: Ask Claude to generate a proper message from the diff (projects with a custom /commit command can use that)

• Avoid large commits: Don't accumulate too many changes before committing

Code Review Workflow¶

Self Review¶

Before submitting a PR, have Claude review:

> /review
> Focus on: security, performance, code style

Reviewing Others' Code¶

# Get PR changes
gh pr diff 123 | claude "Review this PR, focus on:
1. Logic correctness
2. Edge case handling
3. Error handling
4. Code maintainability"

Multi-Phase Review Process¶

For complex PRs, use structured review:

> Phase 1: Check if architecture design is reasonable
> Phase 2: Check if implementation matches design
> Phase 3: Check if test coverage is sufficient
> Phase 4: Check if documentation is complete

Test-Driven Workflow¶

TDD with Claude Code¶

1. Write Tests → 2. Run Tests (Fail) → 3. Write Code → 4. Run Tests (Pass) → 5. Refactor

Practical Steps¶

Step 1: Define Tests

> Write test cases for user registration, covering:
> - Normal registration
> - Invalid email format
> - Weak password
> - User already exists
> Write tests first, don't implement the feature.

Step 2: Verify Tests Fail

npm test  # Expected: tests fail

Step 3: Implement Feature

> Now implement the code to make all tests pass.

Step 4: Verify and Refactor

npm test  # Expected: tests pass

> Tests pass. Now refactor the code for better readability without breaking tests.

Debugging Workflow¶

Structured Debugging¶

1. Reproduce Issue → 2. Gather Information → 3. Analyze Cause → 4. Verify Hypothesis → 5. Fix Issue

Practical Steps¶

Step 1: Describe the Issue

> Issue: After login, clicking "My Orders" shows blank page
> Expected: Display user's order list
> Steps to reproduce: Login → Click "My Orders"

Step 2: Gather Information

> Analyze these files to find possible issues:
> @src/pages/MyOrders.tsx
> @src/services/OrderService.ts
> @src/api/orders.ts

Step 3: Analyze Logs

# Collect error logs
cat app.log | claude "Analyze these logs, find errors related to the orders page"

Step 4: Fix and Verify

> Based on the analysis, fix the issue in OrderService
> After fixing, I'll test to verify

Subagent Collaboration Workflow¶

Parallel Processing¶

Leverage subagents for parallel task processing:

> Execute these tasks simultaneously:
> 1. Use Explore agent to analyze project structure
> 2. Use Plan agent to design new feature approach

Specialized Roles¶

Different subagents have different strengths:

IDE Integration Workflow¶

VS Code Integration¶

1. Install Claude Code VS Code extension

2. Use Cmd+Esc / Ctrl+Esc to quickly switch

3. Select code in editor then invoke Claude

Terminal + IDE Collaboration¶

Terminal (Claude Code)          IDE (VS Code)
        ↓                           ↓
   Analyze, Plan              Manual adjustments, reading
        ↓                           ↓
   Generate Code  ←─────────→   View diff, test
        ↓                           ↓
   Commit Code                  Continue development

Team Collaboration Workflow¶

Standardized CLAUDE.md¶

Share CLAUDE.md configuration across team:

# Team Development Standards

## Code Style

- ESLint config: .eslintrc.js
- Prettier config: .prettierrc

## Git Standards

- Branch naming: feature/xxx, fix/xxx, hotfix/xxx
- Commit format: type(scope): description

## Testing Requirements

- Unit test coverage > 80%
- E2E tests cover core flows

PR Templates¶

Have Claude use unified PR templates:

> Create PR description using this template:
> ## Changes
> ## Test Plan
> ## Screenshots (if UI changes)
> ## Checklist

Workflow Checklist¶

Before Starting New Task¶

• [ ] Create feature branch

• [ ] Use /clear to clear context

• [ ] Have Claude understand existing code first

• [ ] Create implementation plan

During Development¶

• [ ] Execute step by step, verify each step

• [ ] Small commits, ask Claude to commit often

• [ ] Monitor context with /context

• [ ] Use /compact when needed

Before Submission¶

• [ ] Run /review for self-review

• [ ] Run all tests

• [ ] Check for lint errors

• [ ] Generate PR description

The switches workflows rely on most¶

As of 2026-10-15, according to the Claude Code documentation:

Two limits on rewinding: the documentation says file snapshots are kept for the 100 most recent checkpoints of a session, and snapshots are cleaned up by default about 30 days after the session last saved one, after which rewinding may fail with No files were restored; to keep them longer, adjust cleanupPeriodDays.

Notes when running these workflows on QCode¶

• Concurrency: a personal plan or Pay-as-you-go Pack allows 5 concurrent requests per API Key (10 on Ultimate; see FAQ). Running several Claude Code instances, or many subagents in parallel, may hit the limit first, which commonly shows up as 429.
• Long sessions: plan-then-execute sessions often get long, and near the context limit you will see E015 / 429. Run /compact first and restart the session if that fails; see Context Management.
• Dividing work between models: use a stronger model for planning and review, claude-sonnet-5 for bulk edits, and switch with /model. QCode bills per token; per-model rates are at qcode.cc/models.

Common errors and how to troubleshoot¶

FAQ¶

Do I always have to plan before executing?¶

Small changes can be done directly. For tasks that touch several files, or where a mistake is costly, have it propose a plan in plan mode first and execute after you confirm; this usually means less rework.

How often should I run /compact?¶

There is no fixed rhythm. Compact once a phase is finished, or when /context shows usage at 70% to 80%, rather than waiting for an overflow.

How do I roll back after a mistake?¶

For code, use git and /rewind together: commit in small steps and use /rewind for in-session undo. Commit at important points before letting Claude continue.

Do several parallel sessions on different tasks affect each other?¶

Their conversations are independent, but they share the same Key's concurrency allowance. With many parallel tasks you may be rate limited; reduce concurrency as described above.

Next Steps¶

• Learn CLI Tips for more commands

• Explore Custom Commands to create team-specific commands

• Check Best Practices to further optimize workflows

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