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Kisuke Kisuke

Understanding Claude's Tools

Claude isn’t just talk – Claude can take action! Here’s everything Claude can do to help you code better.

File operations

Section titled “File operations”

📄 Read files

Section titled “📄 Read files”

Claude can look at any file in your space:

  • View code to understand your project
  • Check configuration files
  • Read documentation
  • Look at test results

Example: “What does the utils.js file do?”

✏️ Edit files

Section titled “✏️ Edit files”

Claude can make changes to existing files:

  • Fix bugs right in your code
  • Add new functions
  • Update configurations
  • Improve existing code

Example: “Can you add error handling to the login function?”

📝 Write new files

Section titled “📝 Write new files”

Claude can create files from scratch:

  • Write new components
  • Create configuration files
  • Generate documentation
  • Set up test files

Example: “Create a new React component for a user profile card”

Running commands

Section titled “Running commands”

💻 Bash commands

Section titled “💻 Bash commands”

Claude can run terminal commands for you:

  • Install packages: npm install express
  • Run tests: npm test
  • Check status: git status
  • Start servers: npm run dev

Example: “Run the tests and show me which ones fail”

Safety first

Section titled “Safety first”

Claude will:

  • Show you commands before running them
  • Explain what each command does
  • Ask permission for potentially risky operations

Searching and finding

Section titled “Searching and finding”

🔍 Search in files (Grep)

Section titled “🔍 Search in files (Grep)”

Claude can search through your entire project:

  • Find where functions are used
  • Locate specific text patterns
  • Search for TODO comments
  • Find configuration values

Example: “Where is the authenticate function being called?”

📁 Find files (Glob)

Section titled “📁 Find files (Glob)”

Claude can locate files by name or pattern:

  • Find all test files: *.test.js
  • Locate configs: **/*config*
  • Find specific types: *.css

Example: “Show me all the CSS files in this project”

Web and research

Section titled “Web and research”

🌐 Browse websites

Section titled “🌐 Browse websites”

Claude can fetch and read web content:

  • Check documentation
  • Research error messages
  • Find code examples
  • Get latest updates

Example: “Check the React docs for the useEffect hook”

🔎 Web search

Section titled “🔎 Web search”

Claude can search for information:

  • Find solutions to errors
  • Research best practices
  • Look up syntax
  • Find tutorials

Example: “Search for how to implement JWT authentication”

Organization tools

Section titled “Organization tools”

📋 Todo lists

Section titled “📋 Todo lists”

Claude can help you track tasks:

  • Create task lists
  • Track progress
  • Organize work
  • Plan features

Example: “Let’s create a todo list for building this feature”

📊 Analyze code

Section titled “📊 Analyze code”

Claude can understand your codebase:

  • Explain how components work together
  • Find potential improvements
  • Identify patterns
  • Suggest refactoring

How tools appear in chat

Section titled “How tools appear in chat”

When Claude uses a tool, you’ll see a special card:

Tool card anatomy

Section titled “Tool card anatomy”
🔧 Tool Name
├── What it's doing
├── Parameters used
├── [Live progress indicator]
└── ✓ Results when complete

Status indicators

Section titled “Status indicators”
  • ⏳ Pending – Waiting to start
  • 🔄 Running – Currently executing
  • ✅ Complete – Finished successfully
  • ❌ Error – Something went wrong

Common tool combinations

Section titled “Common tool combinations”

Claude often uses multiple tools together:

Debugging workflow

Section titled “Debugging workflow”
  1. Read the error message
  2. Search for the problematic code
  3. Edit to fix the issue
  4. Run tests to verify

Adding a feature

Section titled “Adding a feature”
  1. Read existing code to understand structure
  2. Write new component file
  3. Edit other files to integrate
  4. Run to test it works

Learning workflow

Section titled “Learning workflow”
  1. Read your current code
  2. Search web for best practices
  3. Explain improvements
  4. Edit to implement suggestions

Tool permissions

Section titled “Tool permissions”

Claude always:

  • Shows what tool will be used
  • Explains why it’s needed
  • Displays results clearly
  • Asks before risky operations

You can:

  • See all tool usage in real-time
  • Understand what’s happening
  • Learn from the process
  • Stop operations if needed

Practical examples

Section titled “Practical examples”

”Help me debug this error”

Section titled “”Help me debug this error””

Claude will:

  1. Read the error message
  2. Search for the problematic code
  3. Explain what’s wrong
  4. Fix the issue
  5. Test the solution

”Set up a new Express server”

Section titled “”Set up a new Express server””

Claude will:

  1. Create necessary files
  2. Write server code
  3. Add package.json
  4. Install dependencies
  5. Show how to run it

”Improve my code quality”

Section titled “”Improve my code quality””

Claude will:

  1. Read your files
  2. Identify issues
  3. Suggest improvements
  4. Make the changes
  5. Explain the benefits

Tips for tool usage

Section titled “Tips for tool usage”

Be specific

Section titled “Be specific”
  • “Read the App.js file” vs “Check my code”
  • “Run npm test” vs “Test this”
  • “Search for useState” vs “Find React stuff”

Watch and learn

Section titled “Watch and learn”
  • See how Claude navigates your project
  • Learn new commands
  • Understand file relationships
  • Pick up best practices

Trust the process

Section titled “Trust the process”
  • Claude shows each step
  • You see live progress
  • Results are always visible
  • Nothing happens secretly

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”

Want to use Claude’s tools effectively?