Claude Code Cheatsheet – Everything you need to Vibe Code

🚨 Claude Code Cheatsheet – Everything you need to Vibe Code

Claude Code is a terminal-first AI assistant built to slot into your existing dev workflow — not replace it. It reads your codebase, runs commands, writes and edits files, searches the web, and even spins up sub-agents for complex jobs. Once you understand how it thinks, it becomes a genuine multiplier on your daily output.

⚡ Installation & First Run

Install it once, globally:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Then just type claude in any project folder to start.

Vibe code from anywhere — install Claude Code on a remote server and SSH in from any device. No laptop battery drain, no local resource limits, persistent sessions around the clock. Order a cloud server at DCXV and you’re up in minutes.

For remote use, pair it with tmux so your Claude session survives disconnects:

# Install tmux (Debian/Ubuntu)
apt install tmux

# Start a named session
tmux new -s claude

# Detach — session keeps running after you disconnect
# Press: Ctrl+B, then D

# Re-attach from any device
tmux attach -t claude

# List running sessions
tmux ls

# Kill a session when done
tmux kill-session -t claude

🔧 Initial Setup Commands

A handful of slash commands will make your life easier right away:

/permissions → Choose which tools Claude can use without asking every time (Git, Bash, file ops, etc.)
/terminal-setup → Enables Shift+Enter for multi-line prompts — highly recommended
/theme → Pick a color scheme (dark, light, or Daltonize for color blindness)
/install-github-app → Connect to GitHub so you can tag @claude on issues and PRs
/config → General settings, including notifications
/memory → View and edit what Claude has remembered across sessions
/model → Switch between Claude models mid-session
/usage → Show token usage and estimated cost for the current session
/clear → Wipe the current session context and start fresh
/review → Trigger a code review of recent changes

If you’re on macOS, enabling system dictation lets you speak longer prompts instead of typing them.

🗂️ Codebase Q&A – Where to Start

The easiest way to get value on day one is asking questions about your codebase. Claude explores the code locally to answer — no upload needed, no context limit workarounds.

Some prompts that work well:

- "How is @RoutingController.py used?"
- "How do I add a new @app/services/ValidationTemplateFactory?"
- "Why does recoverFromException take so many arguments? Check git history."
- "Why did we fix issue #18383 with that if/else in @src/login.ts?"
- "What did I ship last week?" — Claude will scan your git log
- "Summarize what @src/auth/ does in plain English."
- "Find all places where we call the payments API."
- "Which files changed the most in the last 30 days?"
- "What dependencies does @package.json have that might be outdated?"

Start with Q&A to get a feel for what Claude understands immediately versus what needs more context from you.

🛠️ Built-in Tools

Claude Code ships with around a dozen tools out of the box:

Bash — run any shell command
File search, list, read, write — full filesystem access
Web fetch & search — pull in external docs or search results
TODOs — lightweight task tracking
Sub-agents — delegate complex multi-step work to parallel agents

Tip: teach Claude your team’s custom CLI tools. For example:

Use the barley CLI to check error logs from the last training run. Use -h if you're unsure about flags.

🎯 Practical Editing Prompts

- "Propose a few fixes for issue #8732, then implement the one I pick."
- "Find edge cases not covered in @app/tests/signupTest.ts and update the tests. think hard."
- "commit, push, pr" — Claude learns this shorthand for standard git workflow
- "Use 3 parallel agents to brainstorm ways to clean up @services/aggregator/feed_service.cpp."
- "Refactor @src/utils.js to reduce duplication. Don't change the public API."
- "Add JSDoc comments to all exported functions in @src/api.ts."
- "Run the tests and fix any failures you find."
- "Look at the error in the logs below and find the root cause." — then paste the logs directly

🔄 Workflow Patterns

Different tasks call for different approaches:

Explore → Plan → Confirm → Code → Commit — good for complex changes where you want oversight before anything is written
Write Tests → Commit → Code → Iterate → Commit — TDD approach that keeps you anchored to expected behavior
Write Code → Screenshot → Iterate — for UI work with Puppeteer or a simulator; Claude can react to visual output if given a way to check its work

📄 Context Files (CLAUDE.md)

The more context Claude has, the better it performs. CLAUDE.md files are automatically read at startup — no need to re-explain your project every session.

Four places you can put them:

- /<enterprise-root>/CLAUDE.md    — org-wide policies, shared across all projects
- ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md             — your personal global context, applies everywhere
- <project-root>/CLAUDE.md        — project-specific, commit this to Git
- <project-root>/CLAUDE.local.md  — local overrides, not committed (for secrets or temporary notes)

Keep your CLAUDE.md concise. A bloated file slows Claude down and dilutes the signal.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Shift+Tab — auto-accept file edits (Bash commands still need manual approval)
# — save a memory to the relevant CLAUDE.md file
! — drop into Bash mode; the command and output go into context
@ — mention a file or folder to pull it into the current session
Esc — cancel whatever Claude is doing
Double-Esc — jump back in history (combine with --resume to continue a session)
Ctrl+R — verbose mode: shows Claude’s reasoning and which tools it’s considering

🖥️ Scripting with the SDK

For automation, CI pipelines, or non-interactive jobs, the CLI doubles as an SDK:

claude -p "what did I do this week?" 
  --allowedTools Bash(git log:*) 
  --output-format json

It’s also Unix-friendly — pipe in and out:

git status | claude -p "summarize my changes" --output-format=json | jq '.result'

Useful CLI flags:

--max-turns N        — limit the number of agentic steps
--continue           — pick up from where the last session left off
--resume <session-id>  — resume a specific past session
--no-cache           — skip prompt caching, useful for benchmarking

🔀 Running Multiple Sessions

Power users run several Claude instances at once — one per repo, one per task, or one per branch:

Multiple terminal tabs with separate repo checkouts
Git worktrees — a single checkout, multiple working branches
SSH + tmux for remote multi-instance setups
GitHub Actions to launch Claude jobs in parallel CI pipelines

🎯 Summary

Claude Code rewards investment. The more you configure it (CLAUDE.md, allowed tools, slash commands), the less friction you have per task. Start with codebase Q&A, build up your context files, learn the keyboard shortcuts, and eventually wire it into your CI — that’s the full arc from beginner to power user.

📩 Questions about AI tools for your infrastructure? Reach us at sales@dcxv.com

Claude Code Cheatsheet – Everything you need to Vibe Code