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Mastering Claude

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Claude Code8 lessons72 min
Terminal window with a command prompt and a four-step loop: read, decide, act, checkClaude Code
Path 4, module 2 of 5

A structured installation

  1. 01The map of a structured setup8 min

    A Claude Code setup that holds up over time reads as a map of seven elements, the engine, the CLAUDE.md constitution, file based memory, the git transport, hooks, skills and the scheduled heartbeat, rather than as a pile of settings with no plan.

  2. 02Installing, signing in and the first launch10 min

    Claude Code installs through five commands, but only the two native ones (curl, irm) update themselves. Sign in with your subscription: an API key already in the environment is not used silently, and Claude Code asks you to approve it. Then run claude doctor, which checks the installation and proposes a fix only after reporting.

  3. 03The global CLAUDE.md, a constitution9 min

    The global CLAUDE.md now targets a length in lines rather than in kilobytes, and it does not override the other CLAUDE.md files by overwriting them: the four scopes, managed, user, project, local, are concatenated in the context from the broadest to the most specific.

  4. 04Wiring file based memory to git10 min

    A memory folder versioned by git, with a private remote and a merge rule that keeps both contents rather than forcing one over the other, remains a technique to build yourself, distinct from the native automatic memory, which never leaves the local machine.

  5. 05Hooks and heartbeat10 min

    Lifecycle events trigger hooks on three distinct cadences, SessionStart and SessionEnd form the natural pair for automating the memory protocol, and nightly consolidation remains an operating system scheduled task you build yourself, not a Claude Code mechanism documented under that name.

  6. 06Curating your skills and closing out the setup9 min

    A skill is installed one at a time, against a need you have already encountered, never in a batch, and closing out the setup means proving each of the module's seven map elements with an executable action rather than assuming it is in place.

  7. 07AGENTS.md: when Claude Code reads it, and how to check8 min

    With the default setting, Claude Code reads AGENTS.md only when no CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.local.md included, takes its place in the working folder or above. The /config panel says what is requested, not what was read: check it at session start, from the line shown in the conversation or with the /memory command.

  8. 08Your instructions age with the models8 min

    Your instructions age because a rule born from one model's flaw stays in place when the model changes: it is not wrong, it becomes unnecessary, and the model keeps reading it every session. The /doctor prompt-audit command rereads your instruction files and spots those written for older models.