Claude Code Workflow Tips

🎯 Overview

Claude Code is a powerful command-line tool for agentic coding that enables developers to delegate coding tasks directly from their terminal. This guide provides comprehensive workflow tips, best practices, and advanced techniques for maximizing productivity with Claude Code in multi-project environments.

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🚀 Core Workflow Tips

1. Use Descriptive Task Prompts

❌ Ineffective Prompts

"Fix this bug"
"Update the code"
"Make this better"

✅ Effective Prompts

"In the ai-consulting project, fix the authentication bug that's preventing API calls to the strategic-intelligence service"

"Update the error handling in stratiqx-platform to match the pattern used in ai-consulting-main-worker"

"Optimize the database queries in strategic-intelligence-onboarding to reduce response times by 50%"

Best Practices for Prompts

• Be specific about the project and component
• Include context about what you're trying to achieve
• Mention constraints or requirements upfront
• Reference related code or patterns when applicable

2. Leverage Cross-Project Context

Claude Code excels at understanding relationships between projects in your workspace:

# Pattern sharing across projects
"Apply the error handling pattern from stratiqx-platform to ai-consulting-main-worker"

# Create shared utilities
"Create a shared authentication utility that all three projects can use"

# Ensure consistency
"Ensure consistent API response formats across all projects"

# Database alignment
"Standardize the database naming conventions across strategic-intelligence and ai-consulting projects"

3. Project-Specific Commands

Focus Commands

# Narrow focus to specific project
"Focus on the stratiqx-platform for the next few tasks"

# Switch context effectively
"Switch context to ai-consulting and ignore the other projects for now"

# Comparative analysis
"Compare the database schemas between strategic-intelligence and stratiqx"

# Architecture review
"Analyze the authentication flow differences between ai-consulting and stratiqx-platform"

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📋 Documentation Strategy

1. Project Mapping Document

Create a comprehensive project relationships document:

File: C:\workspace\project-map.md

# Project Relationships

## Core Projects
- **ai-consulting-main-worker**: Core AI processing service
  - Purpose: Handles AI analysis requests and report generation
  - Tech Stack: Cloudflare Workers, D1 Database, AI APIs
  - Dependencies: strategic-intelligence-onboarding for data

- **strategic-intelligence-onboarding**: Data ingestion and analysis
  - Purpose: Industry-specific data processing and client onboarding
  - Tech Stack: Node.js, PostgreSQL, RESTful APIs
  - Dependencies: Shared with ai-consulting for client data

- **stratiqx-platform**: Admin interface and identity management
  - Purpose: User management, authentication, and administrative dashboard
  - Tech Stack: React SPA, Identity Server APIs, JWT authentication
  - Dependencies: Provides auth services to other projects

## Shared Dependencies
- **Authentication**: OAuth 2.0 + JWT tokens across all projects
- **Database**: PostgreSQL connection patterns and shared schemas
- **API Standards**: RESTful APIs with consistent error handling
- **Logging**: Structured logging format across all services
- **Deployment**: Consistent CI/CD pipeline patterns

## Data Flow
strategic-intelligence → ai-consulting → stratiqx-platform
(onboarding) → (processing) → (management)

## Common Utilities
- Error handling middleware
- Database connection management
- JWT token validation
- API response formatting
- Logging utilities

2. Architectural Decision Records (ADRs)

Maintain decisions that affect multiple projects:

Directory Structure:

C:\workspace\decisions/
├── 001-shared-authentication.md
├── 002-database-naming-conventions.md
├── 003-api-versioning-strategy.md
├── 004-error-handling-standards.md
└── 005-cross-project-logging.md

Example ADR: 001-shared-authentication.md

# ADR-001: Shared Authentication Strategy

## Status
Accepted

## Context
All three projects (ai-consulting, strategic-intelligence, stratiqx-platform) need consistent authentication.

## Decision
Implement JWT-based authentication with:
- Central identity server in stratiqx-platform
- Shared JWT validation across all projects
- Consistent user status management

## Consequences
- Single source of truth for user authentication
- Reduced code duplication
- Consistent security model
- Simplified user experience

## Implementation
- stratiqx-platform: Auth server and user management
- ai-consulting: JWT validation middleware
- strategic-intelligence: Shared auth utilities

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🔧 Advanced .claudeignore Patterns

Project-Specific Ignore Patterns

File: C:\workspace\.claudeignore

# Build outputs
ai-consulting-main-worker/worker.js
ai-consulting-main-worker/dist/
stratiqx-platform/*/dist/
strategic-intelligence-onboarding/build/

# Dependencies
**/node_modules/
**/package-lock.json
**/yarn.lock

# Test artifacts
**/coverage/
**/*.test.js.snap
**/jest-coverage/

# Project-specific temporary files
strategic-intelligence-onboarding/data/temp/
ai-consulting-main-worker/logs/
stratiqx-platform/tmp/

# Environment and secrets
**/.env
**/.env.local
**/.env.production
**/secrets.json

# IDE and OS files
**/.vscode/
**/.idea/
**/Thumbs.db
**/.DS_Store

# Logs
**/logs/
**/*.log

# Cache directories
**/.cache/
**/tmp/
**/temp/

Smart Ignore Strategies

# Include important config files but ignore generated ones
!**/package.json
!**/tsconfig.json
!**/webpack.config.js
# But ignore generated configs
**/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo

# Include database migrations but ignore data dumps
!**/migrations/
**/data/dumps/
**/backups/

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🎯 Efficient Communication Patterns

1. Batch Related Tasks

Cross-Project Reviews

"Review all authentication implementations across projects and suggest improvements"

"Update all package.json files to use consistent dependency versions"

"Add comprehensive error logging to all API endpoints across projects"

"Standardize the database connection handling across all projects"

Security and Quality

"Perform a security audit across all projects and identify vulnerabilities"

"Review code quality across projects and suggest refactoring opportunities"

"Check for hardcoded values that should be environment variables"

2. Progressive Enhancement

Iterative Development

# Start with one project
"Implement rate limiting in ai-consulting-main-worker"

# Then expand
"Now apply the same rate limiting pattern to the other projects"

"Extend this solution to work with the strategic-intelligence project"

"Create a shared rate limiting utility that all projects can use"

Feature Development

# Phase 1: Core implementation
"Add user role management to stratiqx-platform"

# Phase 2: Integration
"Integrate the new role system with ai-consulting authentication"

# Phase 3: Extension
"Extend role-based access control to strategic-intelligence endpoints"

3. Architecture Review Sessions

Analysis Commands

"Analyze the current architecture and suggest opportunities for code sharing"

"Identify inconsistencies in naming conventions across projects"

"Review security implementations across all projects"

"Find duplicate code patterns that could be extracted to shared utilities"

"Evaluate database schema consistency between projects"

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📊 Monitoring & Maintenance

1. Dependency Management

Audit Commands

"Check for outdated dependencies across all projects"

"Identify shared dependencies that could be extracted to a common package"

"Find version mismatches for shared libraries across projects"

"Suggest dependency consolidation opportunities"

Automated Dependency Updates

"Update all projects to use the latest stable versions of shared dependencies"

"Create a dependency management strategy for the workspace"

"Set up automated dependency vulnerability scanning"

2. Code Quality

Quality Analysis

"Run a comprehensive code quality analysis across all projects and prioritize improvements"

"Find duplicate code patterns that could be shared"

"Identify functions that could be extracted to shared utilities"

"Review error handling consistency across projects"

Refactoring Opportunities

"Identify code smells and suggest refactoring strategies"

"Find opportunities to improve code reusability"

"Suggest architectural improvements for better maintainability"

3. Security Audits

Security Review Commands

"Review security practices across all projects"

"Check for hardcoded secrets or credentials"

"Analyze authentication and authorization implementations"

"Identify potential security vulnerabilities"

"Review API endpoint security across all projects"

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🚀 Pro Workflow Example

Daily Workflow Routine

# Navigate to workspace
cd C:\workspace

# Start Claude Code session
claude code

# Typical daily session flow:

Morning Startup

"Good morning! Give me a status overview of all projects"

"Check if there are any critical issues or failed builds"

"Review recent commits across all projects for potential conflicts"

Feature Development

"I need to implement OAuth across all three projects"

"Start with ai-consulting, then we'll adapt it for the others"

"Create the authentication middleware in ai-consulting-main-worker"

"Now let's create a shared auth utility all projects can use"

"Update the documentation to reflect these authentication changes"

Maintenance Tasks

"Update all projects to use the latest security patches"

"Standardize the logging format across all projects"

"Review and optimize database queries in strategic-intelligence"

Advanced Session Patterns

Multi-Project Feature Implementation

# Phase 1: Analysis
"Analyze how to implement real-time notifications across all projects"

# Phase 2: Architecture
"Design a notification system that works with our current architecture"

# Phase 3: Implementation
"Implement the notification backend in ai-consulting"
"Add notification UI components to stratiqx-platform"
"Integrate notifications with strategic-intelligence workflows"

# Phase 4: Testing
"Create integration tests for the notification system"
"Test the notification flow across all projects"

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🎯 Key Success Metrics

Productivity Indicators

You'll know Claude Code is working effectively when:

✅ Cross-Project Intelligence

• Claude suggests improvements from one project to another
• Patterns naturally emerge and get shared across projects
• Inconsistencies are automatically identified and resolved

✅ Reduced Context Switching

• You spend less time manually switching between projects
• Related changes across projects happen in single sessions
• Project dependencies are automatically considered

✅ Code Quality Improvements

• Code quality becomes more consistent across all projects
• Shared utilities and patterns reduce duplication
• Best practices propagate automatically between projects

✅ Efficient Feature Development

• Cross-project features are implemented systematically
• Dependencies and integration points are handled proactively
• Testing and documentation happen across all affected projects

Quality Metrics

Code Consistency

# Regular quality checks
"Measure code consistency across projects using these metrics:
- Naming convention adherence
- Error handling pattern usage
- API response format consistency
- Database query optimization"

Security Posture

# Security monitoring
"Evaluate security implementation consistency:
- Authentication pattern usage
- Authorization checks completeness
- Input validation coverage
- Secrets management practices"

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🔄 Advanced Workflow Techniques

1. Template-Based Development

Creating Project Templates

"Create a template for new microservices based on our existing projects"

"Generate a starter template that includes our standard authentication setup"

"Create deployment templates that match our existing project patterns"

2. Automated Consistency Checks

Regular Audits

"Create a weekly consistency check that reviews:
- Dependency versions across projects
- Code style adherence
- Security practice implementation
- Documentation completeness"

3. Migration Assistance

Technology Upgrades

"Help migrate all projects from Node.js 16 to Node.js 18"

"Upgrade React versions consistently across frontend projects"

"Migrate database schemas while maintaining data integrity"

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🎉 Workspace Optimization Tips

1. Environment Setup

Optimal Directory Structure

C:\workspace/
├── ai-consulting-main-worker/
├── strategic-intelligence-onboarding/
├── stratiqx-platform/
├── shared-utilities/          # Shared code packages
├── deployment-configs/        # Infrastructure as code
├── documentation/            # Cross-project documentation
└── tools/                   # Development tools and scripts

2. Shared Utilities Development

"Create a shared-utilities package that includes:
- Authentication helpers
- Database connection utilities
- Error handling middleware
- API response formatters
- Logging utilities"

"Set up the shared utilities as a npm workspace package"

"Update all projects to use the shared utilities"

3. Documentation Automation

"Generate API documentation that covers all projects"

"Create a unified changelog across all projects"

"Maintain architectural decision records automatically"

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🏆 Best Practices Summary

Command Formulation

1. Be specific about project scope and objectives
2. Include context about existing patterns and constraints
3. Reference related work across projects when relevant
4. Think in terms of the entire workspace ecosystem

Project Management

1. Maintain clear project relationships documentation
2. Use ADRs for decisions affecting multiple projects
3. Keep .claudeignore updated and project-specific
4. Regular consistency reviews and updates

Development Flow

1. Start with analysis before implementation
2. Apply patterns consistently across projects
3. Create shared utilities for common functionality
4. Document decisions that affect the workspace

Quality Assurance

1. Regular security audits across all projects
2. Consistency checks for code quality
3. Dependency management and updates
4. Cross-project testing strategies

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🎯 Conclusion

Treating your workspace as a unified development ecosystem rather than separate projects is the key to maximizing Claude Code's effectiveness. The tool excels at finding cross-project opportunities, maintaining consistency, and enabling efficient multi-project development workflows.

By following these workflow tips and best practices, you'll be able to:

• Leverage cross-project intelligence for better code quality
• Reduce development time through pattern sharing
• Maintain consistency across your entire codebase
• Scale development practices across multiple projects

The result is a more productive, consistent, and maintainable development environment that grows more intelligent over time.

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Document Version: 1.0
Last Updated: August 2025
Prepared for: StratiqX Platform Documentation