Prompt Patterns for Claude Code

Discovery Patterns

Interview-Driven Spec

Instead of writing a spec yourself, let Claude interview you:

Start with a minimal description of what I want to build, then interview me
using AskUserQuestion tool. Ask one question at a time until you have enough
information to write a complete specification. Then create the spec document.

Creates better specs than writing them manually. Claude asks questions you wouldn't think of.

Codebase Understanding

Read the entire codebase and explain the architecture to me as if I'm a new
team member. Focus on: data flow, key abstractions, and non-obvious design decisions.

Quality Challenge Patterns

Grill Mode

After implementation, challenge Claude to prove correctness:

Grill me on these changes and don't make a PR until I pass your test.

or

Prove to me this works. Diff between main and this branch, explain every change,
and identify any edge cases we missed.

Elegant Redo

When a fix works but feels hacky:

Knowing everything you know now, scrap this and implement the elegant solution.

Claude's second attempt is almost always better because it has full context of the problem.

Self-Critique

Review the code you just wrote as a senior engineer. Be harsh.
What would you change if this was going into a production system
serving 10 million users?

Efficiency Patterns

Subagent Offloading

When context is getting heavy:

Use subagents to investigate [topic]. Keep the main context clean.

Explicitly telling Claude to use subagents prevents context pollution.

Batch Operations

Process these 5 files in parallel using subagents. Each subagent handles one file.
Collect all results and present a unified summary.

Deep Reasoning

For complex design and architecture decisions:

• Use Plan Mode for work that benefits from an explicit reviewed plan before changes.
• Extended thinking is controlled by the harness (thinking toggle / effort settings), not by magic keywords in the prompt.
• In the prompt itself, ask for depth in natural language, e.g.:

Before implementing, compare alternative designs and their trade-offs.

Debugging Patterns

Bug -> Fix (No Micromanagement)

Here's the bug: [paste error/screenshot]. Fix it.

Claude fixes most bugs by itself. Don't prescribe the solution.

Visual Debugging

Paste a screenshot of the issue, then:

Look at this screenshot. The layout is broken. Fix it.

Session Management Patterns

Phase-wise Gated Plan

Create a phase-wise plan for this feature. Each phase must have:
1. Clear deliverable
2. Test criteria (unit, integration, or manual verification)
3. Rollback plan if verification fails

Do not proceed to the next phase until the current phase passes all tests.

Context-Aware Restart

Before starting a new task in the same session:

/clear

After heavy investigation:

/compact Preserve the key findings about [topic] and the implementation plan

Rename and Resume

Name important sessions for easy retrieval:

/rename [feature-name implementation v2]

Later: claude --resume to pick up where you left off.