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A structured installation8 minApplication

The map of a structured setup

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.

A Claude Code setup that works well does not rest on a single successful setting, it rests on seven elements that complement each other: the engine that runs the commands, the CLAUDE.md constitution that sets the rules, the file based memory that keeps a trace between sessions, the git transport that synchronises that memory, the hooks that trigger an action on an event in the lifecycle, the skills that learn a repeatable gesture, and the scheduled heartbeat that keeps everything running without manual intervention. This breakdown into seven elements is the one this module has chosen, a reference point for building in order rather than a taxonomy published as such by Anthropic.

Three families behind the seven elements

The seven elements group into three families. One family executes: the engine, the only element running continuously during a session. One family persists: CLAUDE.md, file based memory and the git transport, which keep a trace from one session to the next. One family automates: hooks, skills and the heartbeat, which make the first two families act without you having to ask again every time. Setting up a hook or a skill before file based memory exists amounts to programming an automation that has nothing to read or write.

A map more stable than its own addresses

The documentation itself moves faster than this map. The domain docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code, still cited in older courses, now redirects to code.claude.com/docs/en for every product page, checked on 2 September 2026. The seven elements of the map stay the same from one domain to the next: it is these that matter to remember, not the address documenting them this month.

# Emplacement schématique des sept éléments sur un poste
~/.claude/CLAUDE.md              # constitution globale
~/.claude/skills/                # skills personnelles
mon-projet/.claude/CLAUDE.md     # constitution de projet
mon-projet/.claude/skills/       # skills du projet
mon-projet/.claude/settings.json # hooks et battement de coeur planifié
mon-projet/memoire/.git/         # transport git de la mémoire de fichiers

The next lesson starts with the first of the seven elements, the engine, installed and connected. The last lesson of the module closes the map by checking that each of the seven elements holds its place.

Figure 1

The seven layers of a structured setup

Engine
Installed and connected, it runs every command of the session.
CLAUDE.md
The constitution that sets the absolute rules read at startup.
File based memory
The notes that keep a trace between two sessions.
Git transport
The channel that synchronises that memory between machines.
Hooks
The actions triggered automatically on an event in the lifecycle.
Skills
The repeatable workflows Claude learns to run on request.
Heartbeat
The scheduled task that keeps the whole thing running without manual intervention.
The stack goes from the most fundamental, the engine that executes, to the most automated, the scheduled heartbeat, each upper layer resting on those that carry it.
Calibrate it yourself

A developer installs Claude Code on his machine and starts a first session in his project folder. He then places an empty CLAUDE.md file at the root of the repository.

Write in one sentence what this situation establishes, and in one sentence what it does not establish.

What to remember
  • The seven elements of the map fall into three families, what executes, what persists and what automates, and the order between these families matters to avoid building an automation on a memory that does not yet exist.
  • A skill or a hook set up before file based memory exists works in a void, since it has nothing to read or write at the moment it triggers.
  • The domain name of the official Claude Code documentation has changed, code.claude.com now replaces docs.claude.com for the product's pages, a reminder that the map stays more stable than the addresses documenting it.
  • The six following lessons in the module each develop one or two of these seven elements, in the order in which they are best built on a fresh machine.
Do this now

List right now, on paper or in a text file, the seven elements of the map, engine, CLAUDE.md, file based memory, git transport, hooks, skills, heartbeat, and note next to each whether it is absent, partial or in place on your machine, before adding a single new setting.

Check the source

Every datable claim in this lesson links here to the public text behind it. A source that does not open proves nothing.