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A2 — CLI Workflow Patterns

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← A1 — CLI Intro · Track A: CLI Power User — Stop 2

⏱ Time estimate: 1-2 weeks (~8-15 hours)

📋 Chapter structure: Learning goals → Entry conditions → Required reading → Hands-on exercises → Curated Projects → Self-check 🔑 Key terms: see resources/glossary.en.md 5 (CLAUDE.md / slash command / SKILL.md / plugin / portable prompt)

After installing a CLI and running first tasks, the next question: how do I make the CLI consistent, repeatable, shareable? This stop covers workflow patterns — turning "I retype the same prompt every time" into "set it up once, the CLI does the right thing automatically".

📌 Learning Goals

  • Write a production-grade CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md — the minimum production-grade shape is (1) role + (2) project context + (3) forbidden actions + (4) test commands + (5) delivery format. In practice, 30-50 lines can usually cover those 5 things; beyond 50 lines, split the file
  • Design repeatable slash commands / custom prompts
  • Decompose multi-step tasks into ones the CLI can execute end-to-end
  • Design prompts portable across CLIs

📚 Required Reading

  1. Anthropic — CLAUDE.md best practices ⭐
  2. Stage 2 — Prompt Engineering — workflow design and prompt design are two sides of the same coin
  3. Stage 5.1 — Claude Code Basics — slash command details
  4. resources/cli-agents-guide.en.md "Cross-CLI portable prompt patterns" — portable prompt principles

🛠 Hands-on Exercises

Exercise CLI-5: Write production CLAUDE.md

Your CLAUDE.md should at minimum contain: - Persona: "You're a senior Python engineer / academic writing assistant / etc." - Repo context: what project, what stack, what conventions - Don't do: don't touch main, don't move secrets, don't auto-commit - How to do things: plan first, run tests before commit, use type hints - Common commands: how to run tests, lint, deploy

Commit it to git. Next time a teammate clones the repo, their Claude Code auto-loads your conventions.

Exercise CLI-6: First slash command

Write .claude/commands/review.md (or your CLI's equivalent): 

---
name: review
description: Review staged changes for security + style
---

Run this flow:
1. `git diff --cached` to get staged changes
2. Look for: hard-coded secrets, SQL injection, type errors
3. Check against the style rules in CLAUDE.md
4. Output: PASS / or list of specific changes needed
After this, every /review runs the same flow.

Exercise CLI-7: Multi-step task decomposition

Give the CLI a complex task ("translate these 50 markdown files to English + add frontmatter + move to en/ subdirectory"). - First time: throw the whole task at it → observe how it does it, where it errs - Second time: pre-decompose into 5 sub-tasks, give them one by one → observe the difference - Lesson: the CLI is like you — too-big tasks need decomposition; too-small tasks lead to over-orchestration

⭐ Advanced note: Claude Code native multi-agent mechanisms (read this one sentence for now; no need to expand it in A2): the manual sub-task splitting in CLI-7 can be automated with Claude Code's Subagent / Agent team / Background agent mechanisms. The full explanation, exercises, and when-not-to-use guidance (team permissions, context isolation, and result-review flow all matter) are in Stage 5.5.

Exercise CLI-8: Portable prompt

Write a prompt that works in Claude Code. Run the same prompt in Codex / OpenCode / Gemini CLI — what needs to change? Common discoveries: - file path conventions differ (cwd vs absolute) - shell execution permission defaults differ - "plan-first" prompting needs explicit instructions in some, default in others

Compile these into your own cheat sheet.

🎯 Curated Projects

CLAUDE.md Examples

Anthropic official docs

official — Claude Code memory / CLAUDE.md authoring docs, including best practices.

obra/superpowers ⭐⭐⭐⭐

★ 178k+ — Not just a skill collection but also a production CLAUDE.md template. Read the full .claude/ structure.

mattpocock/skills ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A practitioner's daily skill library. The .claude/ structure is a great reference. More skill examples in Stage 5.3 — Skills.

Slash Commands / Custom Prompts

anthropics/claude-plugins-official ⭐ Official

★ 18k+ — Official plugin marketplace. Each plugin's commands / skills serve as slash command examples.

hesreallyhim/awesome-claude-code

Community-curated Claude Code resources. Browse the slash command examples.

Prompt Design References

f/awesome-chatgpt-prompts ⭐⭐⭐⭐

★ 161k+ — Started for ChatGPT but ~90% of patterns work in CLIs.

Stage 2 — Prompt Engineering full list

Full list — DSPy, Prompt-Engineering-Guide, etc.

Multi-CLI Patterns

resources/cli-agents-guide.en.md "Three common combinations"

Look at Setup A / B / C and try one that fits.

  • yamadashy/repomix ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★ 24k+ — Packs your entire codebase into a single AI-friendly file (XML / Markdown / JSON) for Claude Code / Codex code review / refactoring. Includes MCP server mode + tree-sitter compression (compression varies by language and file structure) + secretlint for secret filtering. A must-have, daily-driver-grade tool for Track A.

✅ Self-Check Before A3

Can you: - [ ] Written at least 1 CLAUDE.md for a production / work repo (not a demo repo) - [ ] Written at least 2 slash commands you actually use - [ ] Run the same prompt across 2 different CLIs and know the differences - [ ] Articulate "what tasks should be decomposed vs not"

If yes → proceed to A3 — Integration & Production.

If no → CLAUDE.md only on demo repos is wasted; go write one for your real repo first.

💡 Common Pitfalls

  • CLAUDE.md too long: over 100 lines and the CLI auto-truncates / ignores the back half. Sweet spot: 30-60 lines.
  • Slash command written as "do X, Y, Z, A, B" in one sentence: CLIs skip steps. Rewrite as numbered list with a success criterion per step.
  • Over-portable: each CLI has its own strengths; don't strip a prompt of specifics just to make it cross-CLI.
  • "I already know all this, I don't need to write it": CLAUDE.md is for future you (and new team members), not for current you.