Claude Code Power-Ups

May 28, 2025

I recently exported a week’s worth of messages from the #claude-code Discord channel, and asked Gemini 2.5 Pro to surface tips & tricks beyond Anthropic’s documentation.

Models

• The default model on Max plans pairs Opus with Haiku for subtasks, potentially switching to Sonnet if Opus limits are near.
• Users on the $100 Max (5x) plan often hit Opus limits within 1-4 hours, frequently switching to Sonnet 4 (/model sonnet-4-20250514) or using Opus for planning/review and Sonnet for execution.
• The $200 Max (20x) plan provides about 5 hours of intensive Opus usage before limits are reached.
• Pin specific model versions (e.g., claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219) via ANTHROPIC_MODEL.
• Usage resets every 5 hours (local time); track with /status.
• Use community scripts to analyze local session data (~/.claude) for cost insights.

Prompting

• Encourage deeper thinking with keywords like “think harder” or “ultrathink.”
• Clearly document complex tasks in markdown (steps, subtasks, validation criteria).
• Explicitly instruct Claude: “Don’t make any code changes yet” to keep discussions theoretical.
• Workflow: Claude creates a plan → you refine → Claude executes.

Permissions

• Bypass repetitive permission checks with claude --dangerously-skip-permissions (recommended in isolated Docker containers or VMs).
• Deny specific permissions (Bash(*:.env)) to protect sensitive files.

IDE Integration

• VS Code extension (via terminal or npm .vsix) provides live diffs and editor context.
• JetBrains integration works well; external terminal recommended for stable output.
• WSL users should use Linux paths (/home/...) for better performance.

Terminal & Shell

• tmux is recommended for efficiently managing multiple Claude sessions simultaneously.
• Low-latency terminals like Alacritty, Ghostty, and Wezterm offer smoother interactions compared to standard options.
• Use /terminal-setup on macOS terminals (Terminal.app, iTerm2) to enable convenient shortcuts like Shift+Enter for new lines.

Session Management

• Quickly resume sessions using claude --resume and claude --continue.
• Regularly clean old session files (~/.claude/projects/) to improve startup performance.
• /clear wipes current context but retains session resumability.

Community Tools

• claude-simone: Structured, file-based project/task management.
• claude-squad offers automated workflows for managing parallel agents efficiently, enhancing productivity by structuring tasks clearly.
• Cost-tracking scripts (Python, Node.js, Electron) provide insights from local session files.
• MCP tools: isitdown (website checks) and ask-ollama.sh (local Ollama task delegation).

Multi-Agent

• Run concurrent Claude instances for separate roles (planning, execution, testing).
• Enable parallelAgents for managing concurrent subtasks efficiently.
• Coordinate agents via shared documents like PROGRESS.md.
• Sub-agents (Task() tool) provide isolated contexts for specific investigations.

Workflow

• Adopt a structured cycle: Research → Plan → Review → Execute.
• Refine code iteratively with Claude critiques (e.g., persona-driven feedback like “as John Carmack”).
• Leverage external tools by instructing Claude to create scripts that interface with CLI tools (gh, Ollama).