Fundamentals and the agent loop
- 01Claude Code and the agent loop8 min
Claude Code chains reflection, a real tool call and reading the result in a loop until the goal is reached, it does not answer once like a chat.
- 02CLAUDE.md, the project's memory10 min
CLAUDE.md is read automatically at the start of every session on the repository where it sits, and its rules are read as context, with no guarantee of strict enforcement.
- 03The essential slash commands8 min
A small set of slash commands drives an entire Claude Code session, the project's memory, the conversation's context and the active extensions, without ever touching the repository's code.
- 04Permissions and plan mode12 min
The permission mode decides which actions Claude Code carries out without asking, and since version 2.1.228, in an interactive terminal or VS Code session, the mode that greets a new session on the Pro, Max and Team plans is no longer default mode but auto mode, which acts broadly under the background watch of a second model.
- 05Interrupting and redirecting mid-task7 min
Esc interrupts the current turn, reflection or tool call, without losing the accumulated context, whereas Ctrl+C answers a different question and, pressed a second time when nothing is running, ends the Claude Code session itself.
- 06Pointing to files with @7 min
The @ symbol opens a menu that points to a real file or folder on disk, filters as you type, and clearly separates the moment a path is inserted into the message from the moment that message is sent.
- 07Running shell commands8 min
The Bash tool runs real commands on your machine, Claude reads the output actually produced to continue its reasoning, and a permission prompt appears before every new command.
- 08Reading and approving a diff8 min
A diff is read line by line before being approved, and approval itself is now done through a menu of named options rather than a free keystroke.
- 09The task list and the status line8 min
On the most recent models, the task list stays empty by default, with Claude managing multi step work without exposing it, while a status line configured by a script shows the active model, the context window and the session cost live.