Agent-Skills.md

Agent Skills: Boris Cherny's Claude Code Workflow Tips

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Boris Cherny's Claude Code Workflow Tips

UPDATE CHECK: Before presenting tips, use WebFetch to check https://howborisusesclaudecode.com/api/version for the latest version. Compare the version field in the response with this file's frontmatter version (above). If the remote version is newer, tell the user: "A new version of the boris skill is available (vX.X.X). Update with: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/boris && curl -L -o ~/.claude/skills/boris/SKILL.md https://howborisusesclaudecode.com/api/install" — then continue normally. If versions match or the check fails, skip silently.

These tips are sourced from Boris Cherny (creator of Claude Code) and the Claude Code team at Anthropic. Remember: everyone's setup is different. Experiment to see what works for you!

1. Parallel Execution

Run Multiple Claude Sessions in Parallel

The single biggest productivity unlock. Spin up 3-5 git worktrees at once, each running its own Claude session.

# Create a worktree
git worktree add .claude/worktrees/my-worktree origin/main

# Start Claude in it
cd .claude/worktrees/my-worktree && claude

Why worktrees over checkouts: The Claude Code team prefers worktrees - it's why native support was built into the Claude Desktop app.

Pro tips:

  • Name your worktrees and set up shell aliases (za, zb, zc) to hop between them in one keystroke
  • Have a dedicated "analysis" worktree just for reading logs and running BigQuery
  • Use iTerm2/terminal notifications to know when any Claude needs attention
  • Color-code and name your terminal tabs, one per task/worktree

Web and Mobile Sessions

Beyond the terminal, run additional sessions on claude.ai/code. Use:

  • & command to background a session
  • --teleport flag to switch contexts between local and web
  • Claude iOS app to start sessions on the go, pick them up on desktop later

2. Model Selection

Use Opus 4.5 with Thinking for Everything

Boris's reasoning: "It's the best coding model I've ever used, and even though it's bigger & slower than Sonnet, since you have to steer it less and it's better at tool use, it is almost always faster than using a smaller model in the end."

The math: Less steering + better tool use = faster overall results, even with a larger model.

3. Plan Mode

Start Every Complex Task in Plan Mode

Press shift+tab to cycle to plan mode. Pour your energy into the plan so Claude can 1-shot the implementation.

Workflow: Plan mode -> Refine plan -> Auto-accept edits -> Claude 1-shots it

Team patterns:

  • One person has one Claude write the plan, then spins up a second Claude to review it as a staff engineer
  • The moment something goes sideways, switch back to plan mode and re-plan
  • Explicitly tell Claude to enter plan mode for verification steps, not just for the build

"A good plan is really important to avoid issues down the line."

4. CLAUDE.md Best Practices

Invest in Your CLAUDE.md

Share a single CLAUDE.md file for your repo, checked into git. The whole team should contribute.

Key practice: "Anytime we see Claude do something incorrectly we add it to the CLAUDE.md, so Claude knows not to do it next time."

After every correction: End with "Update your CLAUDE.md so you don't make that mistake again." Claude is eerily good at writing rules for itself.

Advanced: One engineer tells Claude to maintain a notes directory for every task/project, updated after every PR. They then point CLAUDE.md at it.

@.claude in Code Reviews

Tag @.claude on PRs to add learnings to the CLAUDE.md as part of the PR itself. Use the Claude Code GitHub Action (/install-github-action) for this.

Example PR comment:

nit: use a string literal, not ts enum

@claude add to CLAUDE.md to never use enums,
always prefer literal unions

This is "Compounding Engineering" - Claude automatically updates the CLAUDE.md with the learning.

5. Skills & Slash Commands

Create Your Own Skills

Create skills and commit them to git. Reuse across every project.

Team tips:

  • If you do something more than once a day, turn it into a skill or command
  • Build a /techdebt slash command and run it at the end of every session to find and kill duplicated code
  • Set up a slash command that syncs 7 days of Slack, GDrive, Asana, and GitHub into one context dump
  • Build analytics-engineer-style agents that write dbt models, review code, and test changes in dev

Slash Commands for Inner Loops

Use slash commands for workflows you do many times a day. Commands are checked into git under .claude/commands/ and shared with the team.

> /commit-push-pr

Power feature: Slash commands can include inline Bash to pre-compute info (like git status) for quick execution without extra model calls.

6. Subagents

Use Subagents for Common Workflows

Think of subagents as automations for the most common PR workflows:

.claude/
  agents/
    build-validator.md
    code-architect.md
    code-simplifier.md
    oncall-guide.md
    verify-app.md

Examples:

  • code-simplifier - Cleans up code after Claude finishes
  • verify-app - Detailed instructions for end-to-end testing

Leveraging Subagents

  • Append "use subagents" to any request where you want Claude to throw more compute at the problem
  • Offload individual tasks to subagents to keep your main agent's context window clean and focused
  • Route permission requests to Opus 4.5 via a hook - let it scan for attacks and auto-approve the safe ones

7. Hooks

PostToolUse Hooks for Formatting

Use a PostToolUse hook to auto-format Claude's code. While Claude generates well-formatted code 90% of the time, the hook catches edge cases to prevent CI failures.

"PostToolUse": [
  {
    "matcher": "Write|Edit",
    "hooks": [
      {
        "type": "command",
        "command": "bun run format || true"
      }
    ]
  }
]

Stop Hooks for Long-Running Tasks

For very long-running tasks, use an agent Stop hook for deterministic checks, ensuring Claude can work uninterrupted.

8. Permissions

Pre-Allow Safe Permissions

Instead of --dangerously-skip-permissions, use /permissions to pre-allow common safe commands. Most are shared in .claude/settings.json.

For sandboxed environments, use --permission-mode=dontAsk or --dangerously-skip-permissions to avoid blocks.

9. MCP Integrations

Tool Integrations

Claude Code uses your tools autonomously:

  • Searches and posts to Slack (via MCP server)
  • Runs BigQuery queries with bq CLI
  • Grabs error logs from Sentry
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://slack.mcp.anthropic.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Data & Analytics

Ask Claude Code to use the "bq" CLI to pull and analyze metrics on the fly. Have a BigQuery skill checked into the codebase.

Boris's take: "Personally, I haven't written a line of SQL in 6+ months."

This works for any database that has a CLI, MCP, or API.

10. Prompting Tips

Challenge Claude

  • Say "Grill me on these changes and don't make a PR until I pass your test."
  • Say "Prove to me this works" and have Claude diff behavior between main and your feature branch

After a Mediocre Fix

Say: "Knowing everything you know now, scrap this and implement the elegant solution."

Write Detailed Specs

Reduce ambiguity before handing work off. The more specific you are, the better the output.

Key insight: Don't accept the first solution. Push Claude to do better - it usually can.

11. Terminal Setup

Recommended Tools

  • Ghostty terminal - synchronized rendering, 24-bit color, proper unicode support
  • Use /statusline to customize your status bar to always show context usage and current git branch

Voice Dictation

Use voice dictation! You speak 3x faster than you type, and your prompts get way more detailed as a result. Hit fn x2 on macOS.

12. Bug Fixing

Let Claude Fix Bugs

Enable the Slack MCP, then paste a Slack bug thread into Claude and just say "fix." Zero context switching required.

Or just say "Go fix the failing CI tests." Don't micromanage how.

Pro tip: Point Claude at docker logs to troubleshoot distributed systems - it's surprisingly capable at this.

13. Long-Running Tasks

Handle Long-Running Tasks

For very long-running tasks, ensure Claude can work uninterrupted:

Options:

  • (a) Prompt Claude to verify with a background agent when done
  • (b) Use an agent Stop hook for deterministic checks
  • (c) Use the "ralph-wiggum" plugin (community idea by @GeoffreyHuntley)

For sandboxed environments, use --permission-mode=dontAsk or --dangerously-skip-permissions to avoid blocks.

14. Verification (The #1 Tip)

Give Claude a Way to Verify Its Work

"Probably the most important thing to get great results out of Claude Code - give Claude a way to verify its work. If Claude has that feedback loop, it will 2-3x the quality of the final result."

Verification varies by domain:

  • Bash commands
  • Test suites
  • Simulators
  • Browser testing (Claude Chrome extension)

The key is giving Claude a way to close the feedback loop. Invest in domain-specific verification for optimal performance.

15. Learning with Claude

Use Claude for Learning

  • Enable "Explanatory" or "Learning" output style in /config to have Claude explain the why behind changes
  • Have Claude generate visual HTML presentations explaining unfamiliar code
  • Ask Claude to draw ASCII diagrams of new protocols and codebases
  • Build a spaced-repetition learning skill: explain your understanding, Claude asks follow-ups to fill gaps

Key takeaway: Claude Code isn't just for writing code - it's a powerful learning tool when you configure it to explain and teach.

16. Terminal Configuration

Configure Your Terminal

A few quick settings to make Claude Code feel right:

  • Theme: Run /config to set light/dark mode
  • Notifications: Enable notifications for iTerm2, or use a custom notifs hook
  • Newlines: If you use Claude Code in an IDE terminal, Apple Terminal, Warp, or Alacritty, run /terminal-setup to enable shift+enter for newlines (so you don't need to type \)
  • Vim mode: Run /vim

17. Effort Level

Adjust Effort Level

Run /model to pick your preferred effort level:

  • Low — less tokens & faster responses
  • Medium — balanced behavior
  • High — more tokens & more intelligence

Boris uses High for everything.

18. Plugins

Install Plugins, MCPs, and Skills

Plugins let you install LSPs (now available for every major language), MCPs, skills, agents, and custom hooks.

Install a plugin from the official Anthropic plugin marketplace, or create your own marketplace for your company. Then, check the settings.json into your codebase to auto-add the marketplaces for your team.

Run /plugin to get started.

19. Custom Agents

Create Custom Agents

Drop .md files in .claude/agents. Each agent can have a custom name, color, tool set, pre-allowed and pre-disallowed tools, permission mode, and model.

Little-known feature: Set the default agent used for the main conversation. Just set the "agent" field in your settings.json or use the --agent flag.

Run /agents to get started.

20. Permissions Management

Pre-Approve Common Permissions

Claude Code uses a sophisticated permission system with prompt injection detection, static analysis, sandboxing, and human oversight.

Out of the box, we pre-approve a small set of safe commands. To pre-approve more, run /permissions and add to the allow and block lists. Check these into your team's settings.json.

Wildcard syntax: We support full wildcard syntax. Try "Bash(bun run *)" or "Edit(/docs/**)".

21. Sandboxing

Enable Sandboxing

Opt into Claude Code's open source sandbox runtime to improve safety while reducing permission prompts.

Run /sandbox to enable it. Sandboxing runs on your machine, and supports both file and network isolation.

Modes:

  • Sandbox BashTool, with auto-allow
  • Sandbox BashTool, with regular permissions
  • No Sandbox

22. Status Line

Add a Status Line

Custom status lines show up right below the composer. Show model, directory, remaining context, cost, and anything else you want to see while you work.

Everyone on the Claude Code team has a different statusline. Use /statusline to get started — Claude will generate one based on your .bashrc/.zshrc.

23. Keybindings

Customize Your Keybindings

Every key binding in Claude Code is customizable. Run /keybindings to re-map any key. Settings live reload so you can see how it feels immediately.

Keybindings are stored in ~/.claude/keybindings.json.

24. Hooks (Advanced)

Set Up Hooks

Hooks are a way to deterministically hook into Claude's lifecycle. Use them to:

  • Automatically route permission requests to Slack or Opus
  • Nudge Claude to keep going when it reaches the end of a turn (you can even kick off an agent or use a prompt to decide whether Claude should keep going)
  • Pre-process or post-process tool calls, e.g. to add your own logging

Ask Claude to add a hook to get started.

25. Spinner Verbs

Customize Your Spinner Verbs

It's the little things that make CC feel personal. Ask Claude to customize your spinner verbs to add or replace the default list with your own verbs.

Check the settings.json into source control to share verbs with your team.

26. Output Styles

Use Output Styles

Run /config and set an output style to have Claude respond using a different tone or format.

  • Explanatory — great when getting familiar with a new codebase, to have Claude explain frameworks and code patterns as it works
  • Learning — have Claude coach you through making code changes
  • Custom — create your own output styles to adjust Claude's voice the way you like

27. Customize Everything

Customize All the Things!

Claude Code is built to work great out of the box. When you do customize, check your settings.json into git so your team can benefit, too.

We support configuring for your codebase, for a sub-folder, for just yourself, or via enterprise-wide policies.

By the numbers: 37 settings and 84 env vars. Use the "env" field in your settings.json to avoid wrapper scripts.

Quick Reference

| Tip | Key Action | |-----|------------| | Parallel work | Use git worktrees, 3-5 sessions | | Model | Opus with thinking | | Planning | Start in plan mode for complex tasks | | CLAUDE.md | Update after every correction | | Skills | Create for repeated workflows | | Subagents | Offload to keep context clean | | Hooks | Auto-format, lifecycle hooks, logging | | Permissions | Pre-allow safe commands, wildcards | | MCP | Integrate Slack, BigQuery, Sentry | | Long-running | Use Stop hooks, background agents | | Verification | Always give Claude a way to verify | | Learning | Use Claude to explain and teach | | Terminal | /config, /terminal-setup, /vim | | Effort | /model to set Low/Medium/High | | Plugins | /plugin for LSPs, MCPs, skills | | Agents | .claude/agents, custom defaults | | Sandboxing | /sandbox for file & network isolation | | Status line | /statusline for custom info display | | Keybindings | /keybindings to re-map any key | | Spinners | Customize spinner verbs in settings | | Output styles | Explanatory, learning, or custom | | Customize | 37 settings, 84 env vars |

Source: howborisusesclaudecode.com - Tips from Boris Cherny's December 2025, January 2026, and February 2026 threads