Claude Code Mastery

Complete skill for setting up, optimizing, and mastering Claude Code with a full development team of subagents.

Official Docs: https://code.claude.com/docs

⚡ Quick Check: Is Setup Complete?

Run this first:

command -v claude >/dev/null && echo "✅ Claude Code installed - SKIP to 'Daily Use' section" || echo "❌ Not installed - follow 'First-Time Setup' below"

If Claude Code is already installed, skip directly to the "Daily Use" section below.

🔧 FIRST-TIME SETUP (Skip if already installed)

Note to bot: Only follow this section if Claude Code is NOT installed. Check with the command above. Once setup is complete, this section can be ignored on future invocations.

Setup Scripts

Run these in order:

cd ~/clawd/skills/claude-code-mastery/scripts

# 1. Check dependencies
./01-check-dependencies.sh

# 2. Install Claude Code
./02-install-claude-code.sh

# 3. Authenticate
./03-first-time-auth.sh

# 4. Install dev team subagents
./04-install-subagents.sh              # Starter pack (3 agents) - recommended
./04-install-subagents.sh --full-team  # All 11 agents

# 5. (Optional) Persistent memory - prompts y/N, default No
./05-setup-claude-mem.sh               # Interactive prompt
./05-setup-claude-mem.sh --skip        # Skip entirely
./05-setup-claude-mem.sh --yes         # Install without prompting

Configuration

Edit config.sh to customize:

• VALID_MODELS — Add models as Anthropic releases them
• HEARTBEAT_DIAGNOSTICS — Enable/disable in heartbeat (default: false)
• INSTALL_MODE — Default to "starter" or "full"

Setup Gotchas

Post-Setup: Add Heartbeat Task

After setup, add the maintenance task to your HEARTBEAT.md (see "Heartbeat Maintenance" in Daily Use section).

Setup complete! Continue to Daily Use section.

📘 DAILY USE (Always relevant)

This section covers ongoing usage - reference this for all coding tasks.

Dev Team Subagents

Subagents are installed to ~/.claude/agents/. Each has a "Learn More" section with curated links to deepen expertise.

Starter Pack (Default) — 3 Core Agents

Most users only need these:

Install: ./04-install-subagents.sh (or --minimal)

Full Team (Optional) — All 10 Agents

For larger projects, install all 11 with --full-team:

Using Subagents

Interactive mode: Use the /agent slash command or natural language:

/agent senior-dev
Use the senior-dev agent to review this code

Non-interactive mode (-p): Use the --agent flag:

claude --agent senior-dev -p "review this code for security issues"
claude --agent project-manager -p "create a task breakdown for auth feature"
claude --agent junior-dev -p "fix the typo in README.md"

Note: Claude Code does NOT auto-delegate to subagents based on task type. You must explicitly specify which agent to use.

Multi-agent handoff: For tasks needing multiple specialists, use HANDOFF.md to pass context between agents. See docs/workflows.md for the full pattern.

Quick Reference

CLI Commands

claude              # Start interactive
claude -c           # Continue previous session
claude -p "prompt"  # Non-interactive mode

Slash Commands

/agents   - Manage subagents
/clear    - Clear conversation (use between tasks!)
/compact  - Compress context
/model    - Change model
/help     - All commands

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shift+Tab - Toggle Plan mode (read-only exploration)
Ctrl+C    - Cancel operation
Ctrl+B    - Background task

Context Management (Critical!)

Best practices:

1. /clear between unrelated tasks
2. Use Plan mode for exploration before implementing
3. Subagents isolate verbose operations
4. Create HANDOFF.md for session continuity

Project Configuration

settings.json

Create .claude/settings.json in your project:

{
  "model": "sonnet",
  "permissions": {
    "allow": ["Bash(npm:*)", "Bash(git:*)", "Read", "Write", "Edit"],
    "deny": ["Bash(rm -rf:*)", "Bash(sudo:*)"]
  }
}

CLAUDE.md

Create CLAUDE.md in your project root (Claude reads this automatically):

# Project: MyApp

## Tech Stack
- Frontend: React, TypeScript, Tailwind
- Backend: Node.js, PostgreSQL

## Commands
- `npm run dev` - Start dev server
- `npm test` - Run tests

See examples/CLAUDE-template.md for a full template.

Claude-Mem (If Installed)

Check status:

pgrep -f "worker-service" >/dev/null && echo "running" || echo "stopped"

Start if stopped:

cd ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/thedotmack && bun plugin/scripts/worker-service.cjs start

Web UI: http://localhost:37777

Diagnostics & Troubleshooting

Quick diagnostics:

~/clawd/skills/claude-code-mastery/scripts/06-diagnostics.sh

Full troubleshooting (if issues found):

~/clawd/skills/claude-code-mastery/scripts/08-troubleshoot.sh

Common issues guide: See docs/troubleshooting.md for solutions to:

• Authentication problems (API key, OAuth, logout bugs)
• Installation issues (PATH, WSL, Node.js version)
• Network errors (firewalls, VPNs, proxies)
• Performance problems (high CPU, hangs, slow search)

Heartbeat Maintenance

Add to your HEARTBEAT.md for automatic maintenance:

## Claude Code Maintenance

**Last Health Check:** [timestamp]
**Last Learning Session:** [timestamp]

### Every Heartbeat (if coding tasks active):
1. Quick claude-mem check (if installed):
   `pgrep -f "worker-service" >/dev/null && echo "running" || echo "stopped"`
   - Only restart if stopped
   - Note: pgrep saves ~500 tokens vs full status command

### Daily (morning):
1. Quick health check: `command -v claude && pgrep -f "worker-service"`
2. Only run full diagnostics if quick check fails

### Weekly (Sunday):
1. Run: `~/clawd/skills/claude-code-mastery/scripts/07-weekly-improvement-cron.sh`
2. Propose improvements (require human approval)

### Weekly Learning & Skill Improvement (rotate through agents):
1. Pick ONE agent file from the skill's `agents/` folder (rotate weekly)
2. Read the "Learn More" section
3. Visit 2-3 links that are relevant to current projects
4. Internalize key concepts and update your workflows
5. **Improve the skill itself:**
   - Found a better resource? Add it to "Learn More"
   - Discovered a new best practice? Update the agent's guidelines
   - Link broken or outdated? Remove or replace it
   - New tool or framework worth mentioning? Add it
6. Commit changes locally with clear commit messages
7. **Don't push directly to shared repos** — propose changes as a PR or request human review first
8. Note learnings in your memory files

**Rotation schedule:**
- Week 1: senior-dev, junior-dev
- Week 2: frontend-dev, backend-dev
- Week 3: ai-engineer, ml-engineer
- Week 4: data-scientist, data-engineer
- Week 5: project-manager, product-manager
- Week 6: devops

**What to update:**
- `agents/*.md` — Add new links, update best practices, fix outdated info
- `SKILL.md` — Improve documentation, add tips discovered
- `docs/*.md` — Enhance guides based on real usage

Why this matters:

• Skill improves over time through actual use
• Links stay current (broken ones get fixed)
• Best practices evolve with the ecosystem
• Each Clawdbot contributes back to the skill

Scripts Reference

Summary

For coding tasks:

1. Use appropriate subagent for the task
2. Manage context with /clear and Plan mode
3. Run diagnostics if something breaks

Heartbeat handles:

• claude-mem health checks
• Daily quick diagnostics
• Weekly improvement research

The dev team subagents turn Claude Code into a full development organization.