Claude Code has evolved dramatically since its launch in early 2025. What started as a simple terminal-based coding assistant is now a full-featured agentic development environment with IDE extensions, sandboxed execution, multi-agent teams, and deep integrations with the tools developers already use. Whether you're a solo developer on a Pro plan or part of a 50-person engineering team on Enterprise, there are concrete steps you can take to get significantly more value from Claude Code.

This guide covers the most impactful strategies — the ones that separate developers who casually use Claude Code from those who've built it into the core of their workflow.

Start With a Great CLAUDE.md File


If you adopt only one practice from this entire guide, make it this one. The CLAUDE.md file sits at the root of your project and acts as persistent memory for every Claude Code session. Every time Claude Code starts, it reads this file to understand your project's context, conventions, and constraints.

A well-crafted CLAUDE.md should include your common commands (npm run test, python -m pytest, build scripts), your code style preferences (ES modules vs CommonJS, functional components vs class-based), key architectural decisions, and any patterns Claude should follow or avoid. Anthropic's own RL Engineering team reports that adding specific instructions like "run pytest directly — don't cd unnecessarily" significantly improved consistency in Claude's output.

For teams, this file becomes even more powerful. Commit it to version control so every team member gets the same Claude Code behavior. Think of it as onboarding documentation that your AI pair programmer actually reads every single time.

Use Checkpoints and Git Together


One of the most requested features, checkpoints, automatically saves your code state before each change Claude makes. You can instantly rewind by pressing Esc twice or running the /rewind command, choosing to restore the code, the conversation, or both.

This pairs naturally with a disciplined Git workflow. The best practice is to have Claude create a new branch for each task, commit frequently as changes are made, and use checkpoints as a secondary safety net within those branches. This gives you two layers of protection: checkpoints for quick, in-session rollbacks, and Git for broader project-level version control.

Teams at Anthropic describe this as a "checkpoint-heavy workflow" that enables a more experimental approach to development. You can let Claude attempt ambitious refactors knowing you can always get back to a working state in seconds.

Choose the Right Environment for the Task


Claude Code now runs in multiple environments, and choosing the right one matters.

The terminal CLI remains the most powerful and flexible option — ideal for complex, multi-file tasks where you need full control over your development environment. The VS Code extension (also available for Cursor, Windsurf, and JetBrains) gives you inline diffs, visual plan review, and conversation history directly in your editor, which is great for tasks where seeing changes in context matters. Claude Code on the web runs in a cloud sandbox with no local setup required — perfect for kicking off long-running tasks, working on repos you don't have locally, or running parallel tasks from your browser or mobile device.

The choice isn't permanent. Many developers start tasks on the web while commuting, then pick them up in VS Code or the terminal when they're at their desk.

Master the One-Shot, Then Collaborate Pattern


Anthropic's internal teams have converged on a surprisingly effective workflow: give Claude a concise prompt and let it attempt the full implementation in one shot. If it works — which happens roughly a third of the time — you've saved significant effort. If it doesn't, switch to a more collaborative, guided approach where you iterate together.

This works because Claude Code understands your entire codebase. For straightforward tasks like writing tests, fixing lint errors, resolving merge conflicts, or updating dependencies, a single well-written prompt often produces a complete, correct solution. For more complex tasks, the initial attempt still gives you a useful starting point to refine.

Leverage Subagents and Agent Teams


Claude Code now supports two levels of parallel work, and understanding when to use each is key.
Subagents are lightweight helpers that spawn within your current session. They're ideal for focused tasks like researching a specific API, verifying a fix, or running a parallel investigation — anything where the helper reports back to the main agent without needing to coordinate with other helpers.
Agent teams are a more powerful (and token-intensive) feature where multiple Claude Code instances work together with their own context windows, shared task lists, and direct inter-agent messaging. One session acts as the team lead, coordinating work and synthesizing results. Teams are most effective when parallel exploration adds genuine value — like investigating a bug from multiple angles, designing a system from different perspectives (UX, architecture, security), or executing a large refactor that touches multiple independent modules.

The deciding question is simple: do your workers need to communicate with each other? If not, subagents are cheaper and simpler. If they do, agent teams are worth the token cost.

Set Up Sandboxing for Autonomous Work


Claude Code's sandboxing features, introduced in late 2025, use operating system-level isolation to define boundaries within which Claude can work freely. This means two things: filesystem isolation (Claude can only access specific directories) and network isolation (Claude can only connect to approved servers).

The practical impact is huge. Anthropic reports that sandboxing reduces permission prompts by 84% in internal usage. Instead of approving every file edit and command individually, you define the boundaries once and let Claude work autonomously within them. Run /sandbox in Claude Code to get started.

For teams working on sensitive codebases, sandboxing also provides a meaningful security layer. Even if a prompt injection were to occur, the compromised session cannot access files or networks outside its defined boundaries.

Build Shared Custom Commands


The .claude/commands/ directory lets you create reusable slash commands that any team member can use. Organize them by domain — .claude/commands/frontend/, .claude/commands/backend/, .claude/commands/devops/ — and commit them to your repository.

Good candidates for custom commands include your team's PR review checklist, test-writing conventions, deployment procedures, and common debugging workflows. This creates a shared library of team-specific automation that improves consistency and reduces the time spent explaining "how we do things here" to both new team members and to Claude.

Connect External Tools With MCP


The Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets Claude Code connect to external data sources and tools — Google Drive for design docs, Jira for tickets, Slack for team context, GitHub for issues and PRs, and any custom tooling you build. This transforms Claude Code from an isolated coding tool into a connected development hub.

For teams, MCP configurations can be shared through your project's .claude/ directory, ensuring everyone has access to the same integrations. This is particularly valuable for onboarding, where new team members can use Claude Code to navigate not just the codebase but also the surrounding documentation, tickets, and team knowledge.

Manage Context Actively in Long Sessions


Claude Code operates within a context window, and long sessions can exhaust it. Active context management makes a real difference. Use the "Summarize from here" feature to compress earlier parts of a conversation. Reference specific files with @ mentions rather than pasting large blocks of code. Break complex tasks into focused sessions rather than trying to do everything in one conversation.

Anthropic's data science teams note that the more structured and detailed your CLAUDE.md files are, the less context Claude needs to spend exploring the codebase on its own — which means more of your context window is available for actual work.

Team and Enterprise Setup


For organizations, Claude Code is included with Team plans (for groups of 5 to 150) and Enterprise plans. Both Sonnet and Opus models are available, and enterprise users can run Claude Code through existing Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud Vertex AI instances.

The setup is straightforward: team members authenticate through their organization's plan, and administrators can configure organization-wide settings for authentication, usage tracking, and access control. Extra usage can be enabled so developers aren't blocked when they hit included usage limits during intensive coding sessions.

The most successful team deployments share three characteristics: a well-maintained CLAUDE.md committed to every repository, a library of custom commands that encode team conventions, and MCP integrations that connect Claude to the team's existing tools and knowledge bases.

Think of Claude Code as a Thought Partner


The teams getting the most value from Claude Code — including Anthropic's own — treat it as a thought partner rather than a code generator. They explore possibilities, prototype rapidly, and use Claude to navigate unfamiliar parts of their codebase. Engineers use it to explain complex functions. Data scientists create visualizations in languages they don't know. Lawyers build automation tools. Marketers generate hundreds of ad variations.

The pattern is consistent: the more you lean into collaboration rather than dictation, the better the results. Give Claude context, let it attempt solutions, guide it when needed, and use the safety nets — checkpoints, Git, sandboxing — to make experimentation feel safe.

Claude Code is a tool that rewards investment. The developers who spend an afternoon setting up their CLAUDE.md, custom commands, and MCP integrations consistently report that the payoff is immediate and compounding. Start there, and build from it.