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Claude Code: Part 9 - Complete Development Workflows

#Claude Code#Development Workflows#Feature Development#Bug Fixing#Code Review#Team Collaboration#End-to-End Process

Claude Code: Part 9 - Complete Development Workflows

The Problem

You've learned all the individual Claude Code features - CLAUDE.md, slash commands, MCP servers, subagents, IDE integration, and hooks. But you're looking at them like separate tools in a toolbox, not sure how they work together.

You know Claude can help with individual tasks, but your real development work isn't isolated tasks. It's complete workflows: planning a feature, implementing it, testing it, reviewing it, and deploying it. Right now, you're using Claude for pieces but not for the whole process.

It's like having a talented team member who's great at individual tasks but hasn't learned how your actual development process works.

The Solution

Real-world workflows combine all Claude Code features into seamless development processes. Think of it as teaching your AI teammate not just individual skills, but how your entire development process flows from idea to production.

Feature Development Workflow

The complete process: From idea to deployed feature using Claude Code.

1. Project Setup

# Start new feature branch
git checkout -b feature/user-notifications

# Launch Claude with context
claude

CLAUDE.md rule: - Run pnpm type:check before marking features complete

2. Planning Phase

Plan the user notifications feature:
1. Database schema for notifications
2. API endpoints needed
3. React components structure
4. Integration points with existing code

Claude analyzes your codebase and creates a structured plan.

3. Implementation with Custom Commands

# Use your custom workflow command
/feature-start notifications

# This runs your .claude/commands/feature-start.md:
# 1. Analyze existing patterns in this codebase
# 2. Create feature folder structure
# 3. Set up basic files following project conventions
# 4. Run type checking to ensure no conflicts

4. Development with MCP Integration

Check GitHub issues labeled "notifications" and implement the API endpoints

With GitHub MCP server connected, Claude:

  • Reads actual issues from your repository
  • Understands requirements from issue descriptions
  • Creates code that addresses specific reported needs

5. Quality Assurance with Hooks

Your PostToolUse hook automatically runs:

{
  "matcher": "Edit:*.ts|Edit:*.tsx",
  "hooks": [
    {
      "type": "command",
      "command": "pnpm type:check && pnpm lint"
    }
  ]
}

Every file Claude edits gets automatically validated.

6. Testing with Subagents

Use an agent to write comprehensive tests for the notifications feature

Subagent autonomously:

  • Analyzes all notification-related code
  • Creates unit tests for components
  • Writes integration tests for API endpoints
  • Ensures good test coverage

7. Final Review

/feature-complete notifications

# Your custom command:
# 1. Run full test suite
# 2. Check for console.logs and TODOs
# 3. Verify responsive design
# 4. Generate summary of changes
# 5. Suggest improvements before PR

Bug Fixing Workflow

Quick and systematic bug resolution.

1. Bug Analysis

# Open VS Code to the problematic file
# Select the buggy code
# Press Cmd+Esc (Mac) or Ctrl+Esc (Windows/Linux)

Claude launches with:

  • The selected buggy code
  • Current file context
  • Any TypeScript/ESLint errors from Problems panel

2. Root Cause Investigation

Analyze this authentication bug. Check related files and explain the issue.

Claude examines:

  • The specific code causing issues
  • Related authentication files (following your CLAUDE.md patterns)
  • Recent git changes that might be related

3. Fix Implementation

Fix this bug following our existing error handling patterns

Your CLAUDE.md ensures:

  • Consistent error handling approach
  • Proper logging (no sensitive data)
  • Following established code patterns

4. Verification

Post-fix hook automatically:

  • Runs relevant tests
  • Checks type safety
  • Validates the fix doesn't break other functionality

Code Review Workflow

Prepare code for review efficiently.

1. Self-Review Preparation

/review-prep

# Your custom command runs:
# 1. Check for TODO comments
# 2. Find hardcoded values
# 3. Verify error handling
# 4. Check TypeScript types
# 5. Suggest readability improvements

2. Documentation Updates

Update the README with the new notifications feature and API endpoints

Claude references:

  • Your actual implemented code
  • Existing documentation patterns
  • API endpoints you just created

3. PR Creation with MCP

Create a GitHub PR for this feature branch with a comprehensive description

With GitHub MCP server:

  • Analyzes your commits since branch creation
  • Generates meaningful PR description
  • Includes testing checklist
  • References related issues automatically

Legacy Code Modernization

Systematic approach to improving old code.

1. Assessment with Subagents

Use an agent to analyze the legacy auth system and create a modernization plan

Subagent provides:

  • Complete analysis of existing code
  • Security concerns identified
  • Modernization recommendations
  • Step-by-step migration plan

2. Incremental Updates

Modernize the user authentication to use our current patterns, maintaining backward compatibility

Your folder-specific CLAUDE.md in src/auth/ ensures:

  • Security-first approach
  • Consistent with current auth patterns
  • Proper validation and error handling

3. Testing Strategy

Create comprehensive tests for the modernized auth system to ensure no regressions

Claude creates:

  • Tests that verify existing functionality
  • New tests for improved features
  • Integration tests for compatibility

Daily Development Shortcuts

Speed up common tasks.

Quick File Navigation

# In VS Code terminal
claude

# Then use Claude as your project assistant
"Show me all components that use the UserContext"
"Find files related to payment processing"

Rapid Debugging

# Select error message in VS Code
# Cmd+Esc to launch Claude with context
# Claude sees the error automatically

"Fix this TypeScript error"

Code Quality Maintenance

/health-check

# Custom command that:
# 1. Runs full test suite
# 2. Checks for security issues
# 3. Analyzes bundle size
# 4. Reports technical debt

Team Collaboration Workflows

Consistent team practices.

Onboarding New Developers

Analyze this codebase and create an onboarding guide for new developers

Claude generates:

  • Architecture overview
  • Key patterns and conventions
  • Development setup instructions
  • Common tasks and workflows

Code Standards Enforcement

Team's shared CLAUDE.md ensures:

  • Consistent coding patterns across team members
  • Automated quality checks via hooks
  • Standardized commit messages and PR formats

Knowledge Sharing

Document the payment integration patterns we use across all features

Claude creates:

  • Comprehensive documentation
  • Code examples from actual codebase
  • Best practices based on your implementations

Combining Features for Maximum Efficiency

The power is in the combination:

  1. CLAUDE.md provides context and standards
  2. Custom commands automate repeated workflows
  3. MCP servers eliminate tool switching
  4. Subagents handle complex analysis
  5. Hooks ensure quality automatically
  6. IDE integration provides seamless context

Result: Claude becomes a true development partner that understands your project, follows your standards, and automates your workflows.

Getting Started with Workflows

  1. Start with one workflow - Pick your most common task
  2. Build incrementally - Add features as you see benefits
  3. Share with team - Successful workflows become team standards
  4. Iterate and improve - Workflows evolve with your needs

The goal is to spend more time on creative problem-solving and less time on repetitive development tasks.

Claude Code Blog Series

Previous: Part 8 - Hooks for Automated Quality Checks Next: Part 10 - Power User CLI Options and Scripting

Full Series:

  1. Part 1 - Getting Started and Installation
  2. Part 2 - CLAUDE.md Configuration Files
  3. Part 3 - Conversation Management and Context
  4. Part 4 - Slash Commands and Custom Commands
  5. Part 5 - MCP Servers and Tool Integration
  6. Part 6 - Subagents and Task Delegation
  7. Part 7 - IDE Integration with VS Code and JetBrains
  8. Part 8 - Hooks for Automated Quality Checks
  9. Part 9 - Complete Development Workflows (this post)
  10. Part 10 - Power User CLI Options and Scripting
  11. Part 11 - Troubleshooting and Recovery

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