Tips and Tricks

Level up your Claude game! Here are insider tips to work faster and smarter with your AI assistant.

Conversation techniques

Start with context

Instead of jumping into details, set the stage:

❌ “Fix the bug in the function” ✅ “I have a React app with a shopping cart. The total price calculation is wrong.”

Use Claude’s memory

Build on previous responses:

You: "Create a user login form"
Claude: [creates form]
You: "Now add validation to that"
Claude: [adds to the same form]

Be conversational

Claude understands natural language:

“That’s not quite right”
“Can you make it simpler?”
“I don’t understand that part”
“Let’s try a different approach”

Power user shortcuts

Quick commands

Start your message with these for instant action:

“Read” - Claude reads files first
“Run” - Executes commands immediately
“Search” - Finds code quickly
“Explain” - Gets explanations without changes
“Fix” - Jumps straight to debugging

Batch operations

Ask for multiple things at once: “Read package.json, check what version of React we’re using, and update it to the latest version”

Chain requests

Use “then” to chain actions: “Find all TODO comments then create a task list from them”

Working efficiently

Let Claude explore

Sometimes the best approach is: “Look at this project and tell me what you find interesting”

Use Claude as a reviewer

“Review this code for best practices”
“What security issues do you see?”
“How can this be more efficient?”
“Check if I’m following React conventions”

Iterative development

Work in steps:

“Create a basic version”
“Add error handling”
“Now make it more efficient”
“Add comments and documentation”

Advanced patterns

The “Show me” pattern

“Show me how to use async/await”
“Show me a better way to structure this”
“Show me what errors this might cause”

The “What if” pattern

“What if the user enters invalid data?”
“What if this API call fails?”
“What if we used TypeScript instead?”

The “Explain like” pattern

“Explain this like I’m new to coding”
“Explain why this is better”
“Explain what each line does”

Managing long conversations

Signs to start fresh

Responses getting slower
Claude forgetting context
Conversation over 50 messages
Switching to new topic

Preserve context

Before starting new chat:

Ask Claude to summarize progress
Copy important code
Note completed tasks
Save any generated files

Tab strategy

Use tabs for:

Different features
Learning vs. doing
Experiments vs. production
Quick questions vs. deep work

Learning with Claude

Build understanding

“Can you explain [concept] and show me a simple example?”

Practice problems

“Give me a coding challenge for [topic] and help me solve it”

Code reviews for learning

“Review my solution and teach me better approaches”

Incremental learning

Start simple, build complexity:

“Show me a basic React component”
“Now add state to it”
“Now add props”
“Now add event handling”

Debugging like a pro

The error message
The code that’s failing
What you expected
What actually happened

Let Claude investigate

“This test is failing. Can you figure out why?”

Systematic approach

Claude can help you debug methodically:

Understand the error
Locate the problem
Test hypotheses
Implement fix
Verify solution

Project patterns

Starting new projects

“I want to build [X]. Help me plan the structure and create the initial files”

Adding features

“I need to add [feature] to my app. What files need to change?”

Refactoring

“This code works but feels messy. Can you help refactor it?”

Documentation

“Can you document this code with clear comments and create a README?”

Claude’s hidden talents

Code translation

“Convert this JavaScript to TypeScript”

Pattern matching

“Find all places where we’re not handling errors”

Optimization

“Make this function more efficient”

Test generation

“Write tests for this component”

Common gotchas

Claude can miss nuance

Be explicit about:

Your tech stack
Project conventions
Specific requirements
Edge cases

Context windows

Very long files might truncate:

Focus on specific sections
Break into smaller requests
Use search to find relevant parts

Version awareness

Specify versions when important: “Using React 18 and Next.js 13”

Quality of life tips

Save typing

Use pronouns: “it”, “that”, “the function”
Reference by line numbers
Point to “the error above”

Get explanations

Always feel free to ask:

“Why did you do it that way?”
“What’s the advantage of this approach?”
“Could you explain that syntax?”

Experiment freely

Try different phrasings
Ask for alternatives
Request different styles
Explore “what if” scenarios

Making Claude your own

Develop patterns

Find what works for you:

Your favorite ways to phrase requests
Your preferred level of detail
Your debugging workflow
Your learning style

Build a relationship

The more you use Claude:

Better you understand capabilities
Faster you get results
More natural conversations become
More productive you are

Quick wins

Try these today:

Ask for alternatives: “Show me 3 different ways to do this”
Request explanations: “Why is this approach better?”
Get summaries: “What does this project do in one paragraph?”
Find improvements: “How can this code be better?”
Learn shortcuts: “What’s a quicker way to do this?”

Next steps

Keep exploring: