How to Turn Claude into a Collaborative Coding Partner: The CLAUDE.md Playbook

During AI‑assisted coding many developers fall into two misconceptions: believing that a more powerful model eliminates the need for coding standards, and treating the model merely as a tool rather than a collaborator. Both assumptions ignore the fact that current large language models are still general‑purpose and require precise, well‑structured prompts and continuous feedback to produce reliable code.

Why Standards and Feedback Matter

Even though models like Claude can generate code that surpasses many programmers, vague requirements or missing style guidelines cause the output quality to drop dramatically. Providing explicit specifications enables the AI to align its output with the developer’s expectations. Moreover, without a feedback loop the model cannot learn from its mistakes; it remains a "obedient tool" that never improves.

CLAUDE.md: A Structured Collaboration Contract

Boris Cherny, the creator of Claude Code at Anthropic, shared internal best‑practice tweets that have been compiled into a structured CLAUDE.md file. This file can be dropped into any project and defines six core modules:

Workflow Orchestration

Sub‑Agent Strategy

Self‑Improvement Loop

Verification Before Done

Autonomous Bug Fixing

Core Principles

Using the contract repeatedly reduces Claude’s error rate because the model (theoretically) learns from the recorded feedback.

1. Workflow Orchestration

The Chinese version of the workflow is provided below, followed by an English translation.

## 工作流编排

### 1. 规划节点默认行为（Plan Node Default）
- 对任何非平凡任务（3 个以上步骤或涉及架构决策）进入规划模式
- 如果出现问题，立即停止并重新规划——不要强行推进
- 不仅在构建时使用规划模式，验证步骤也要用
- 前期编写详细规范以减少歧义

### 2. 子 Agent 策略（Subagent Strategy）
- 大量使用子 Agent 以保持主上下文窗口整洁
- 将研究、探索和并行分析卸载给子 Agent
- 对于复杂问题，通过子 Agent 投入更多算力
- 每个子 Agent 专注一个任务以实现精准执行

### 3. 自我改进循环（Self-Improvement Loop）
- 用户做出任何纠正后：将模式更新到 `tasks/lessons.md`
- 为自己编写规则以防止重复犯错
- 对这些经验教训进行无情迭代，直到错误率下降
- 会话开始时审查相关项目的经验教训

### 4. 完成前验证（Verification Before Done）
- 在证明任务有效之前，永远不要标记为完成
- 在相关时对比主分支和你的修改之间的行为差异
- 问自己："高级工程师会批准这个吗？"
- 运行测试、检查日志、证明正确性

### 5. 追求优雅（Demand Elegance，平衡）
- 对于非平凡的修改：暂停并问 "有没有更优雅的方式？"
- 如果修复方案感觉像补丁："基于我现在所知的一切，实现优雅的解决方案"
- 对于简单、明显的修复跳过这一步——不要过度设计
- 在展示工作之前挑战自己的方案

### 6. 自主 bug 修复（Autonomous Bug Fixing）
- 收到 bug 报告时：直接修复它。不要寻求手把手指导
- 指出日志、错误、失败的测试，然后解决它们
- 用户无需任何上下文切换
- 无需被告知如何做，直接去修复失败的 CI 测试

## 任务管理
1. **先规划**：将计划写入 `tasks/todo.md`，包含可勾选的项目
2. **验证计划**：开始实现前先确认
3. **跟踪进度**：逐步标记完成的项目
4. **解释变更**：每一步提供高层级摘要
5. **记录结果**：在 `tasks/todo.md` 中添加审查部分
6. **捕获经验**：纠正后更新 `tasks/lessons.md`

## 核心原则
- **简单优先**：让每个变更尽可能简单，只影响必要的代码
- **不偷懒**：找到根本原因。不做临时修复。高级开发标准。
- **最小影响**：变更应该只触及必要部分。避免引入 bug

## Workflow Orchestration

### 1. Plan Node Default
- Enter plan mode for ANY non‑trivial task (3+ steps or architectural decisions)
- If something goes sideways, STOP and re‑plan immediately – don’t keep pushing
- Use plan mode for verification steps, not just building
- Write detailed specs upfront to reduce ambiguity

### 2. Subagent Strategy
- Use sub‑agents liberally to keep the main context window clean
- Offload research, exploration, and parallel analysis to sub‑agents
- For complex problems, throw more compute at it via sub‑agents
- One tack per sub‑agent for focused execution

### 3. Self‑Improvement Loop
- After ANY correction from the user: update `tasks/lessons.md` with the pattern
- Write rules for yourself that prevent the same mistake
- Ruthlessly iterate on these lessons until mistake rate drops
- Review lessons at session start for relevant project

### 4. Verification Before Done
- Never mark a task complete without proving it works
- Diff behavior between main and your changes when relevant
- Ask yourself: "Would a staff engineer approve this?"
- Run tests, check logs, demonstrate correctness

### 5. Demand Elegance (Balanced)
- For non‑trivial changes: pause and ask "is there a more elegant way?"
- If a fix feels hacky: "Knowing everything I know now, implement the elegant solution"
- Skip this for simple, obvious fixes – don’t over‑engineer
- Challenge your own work before presenting

### 6. Autonomous Bug Fixing
- When given a bug report: just fix it. Don’t ask for hand‑holding
- Point at logs, errors, failing tests – then resolve them
- Zero context switching required from the user
- Go fix failing CI tests without being told how

## Task Management
1. **Plan First**: Write plan to `tasks/todo.md` with checkable items
2. **Verify Plan**: Check in before starting implementation
3. **Track Progress**: Mark items complete as you go
4. **Explain Changes**: High‑level summary at each step
5. **Document Results**: Add review section to `tasks/todo.md`
6. **Capture Lessons**: Update `tasks/lessons.md` after corrections

## Core Principles
- **Simplicity First**: Make every change as simple as possible. Impact minimal code.
- **No Laziness**: Find root causes. No temporary fixes. Senior developer standards.
- **Minimal Impact**: Changes should only touch what’s necessary. Avoid introducing bugs.

Images throughout the original article illustrate the two common misconceptions and the structure of the CLAUDE.md contract; they have been retained for visual context.

The essential takeaway is that CLAUDE.md acts as a human‑AI collaboration contract; carefully crafting this file enables Claude to reach its full potential. Developers are encouraged to try the contract on their next project.