Foundations

A comprehensive reference to every slash command in Claude Code. Grouped by category — session management, project setup, review & quality, and utility — with practical examples showing when and why to use each one.

CLAUDE.md is the memory file that tells Claude Code how your project works — conventions, architecture, patterns, and constraints. Learn the three-tier hierarchy, @import directives, .claude/rules/ files, and see real examples for different project types.

Skills are reusable prompt templates that extend Claude Code with on-demand capabilities. Learn the file structure, frontmatter options, how to write custom skills, and see practical examples for code review, commit messages, translation, and scaffolding.

CLAUDE.md is always-on context that shapes every response. Skills are on-demand actions triggered for specific workflows. This article gives you a clear decision framework for choosing between them, with a comparison table and common mistakes to avoid.

A catalog of the most common CLAUDE.md mistakes: files that are too long, too vague, contradictory, outdated, or that duplicate code. Each anti-pattern includes a bad example, why it fails, and how to fix it.