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Jun 27 2026

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What is Claude Code?

Claude Code is an agentic coding environment that runs in your terminal. Unlike a chatbot, it can read files, run commands, make changes, and autonomously work through complex tasks while you watch or step away.

Installation

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

Core Workflow

1. Open your terminal inside a project folder
2. Run claude to start a session
3. Describe your task in plain English. Claude explores, plans, and implements

Tips to Maximize Tokens

Token burn in Claude Code is compounding, not additive. Every file read and command output grows the context window permanently for that session.

Tip	Command / Action
Compress long sessions	/compact
Start fresh between tasks	/clear
Check context usage	/context
Undo risky changes	/rewind

Additional best practices:

• Keep CLAUDE.md lean, it loads on every turn; large files waste tokens constantly
• Use subagents for investigation tasks to keep your main context clean
• Disable extended thinking for simple edits (thinking counts as output tokens)
• Compact proactively at ~70% context capacity, not at the default 95%
• Only connect MCP servers you're actively using, each one consumes context on every message

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Full docs: docs.claude.com

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