Common Workflows

Learn proven workflows for maximum productivity with Claude Code across all stages of development.

Quick Navigation

• Feature Development Workflow
• Debugging Workflow
• Code Review Workflow
• Refactoring Workflow
• Performance Optimization Workflow
• Deployment Workflow
• Documentation Workflow
• Daily Standup Workflow

Overview

This guide presents battle-tested workflows that leverage Claude Code’s capabilities for common development scenarios. Each workflow includes step-by-step instructions, best practices, and real-world examples.

🚀 1. Feature Development Workflow

The Four-Phase Approach

Claude Code excels when you follow this structured approach to feature development:

graph LR
    A[1. Understand] --> B[2. Plan]
    B --> C[3. Implement]
    C --> D[4. Review & Commit]

Phase 1: Understand the Requirements

# Start with context gathering
claude> "Read the issue #123 requirements and related code"
 
# Ask clarifying questions
claude> "What edge cases should we consider for this feature?"
 
# Research similar implementations
claude> "Show me how we handle similar features elsewhere in the codebase"

Phase 2: Plan the Implementation

# Create a detailed plan
claude> "Create a step-by-step plan for implementing user notifications"
 
# Example response structure:
# 1. Database schema changes
# 2. API endpoints
# 3. Frontend components
# 4. State management
# 5. Tests

Phase 3: Implement with TDD

# Start with tests
claude> "Write tests for the notification service based on our plan"
 
# Implement incrementally
claude> "Now implement the notification service to make these tests pass"
 
# Request code review
claude> "Review this implementation for potential issues"

Phase 4: Commit and Document

# Create meaningful commit
claude> "Create a commit for these changes with a detailed message"
 
# Update documentation
claude> "Update the README with the new notification feature"
 
# Create PR if needed
claude> "Create a pull request for this feature"

Real-World Example: Adding Search Functionality

# Phase 1: Understand
claude> "I need to add search functionality to our product catalog. Read the current catalog implementation"
 
# Phase 2: Plan
claude> "Create a plan for adding full-text search with filters"
 
# Claude's response:
# 1. Add search index to database (PostgreSQL full-text search)
# 2. Create SearchService with query builder
# 3. Add /api/products/search endpoint
# 4. Build SearchBar component with debouncing
# 5. Implement search results page with pagination
 
# Phase 3: Implement
claude> "Let's start by writing tests for the SearchService"
claude> "Now implement the SearchService"
claude> "Create the search API endpoint"
claude> "Build the SearchBar component with proper debouncing"
 
# Phase 4: Review & Commit
claude> "Review all the search implementation for performance issues"
claude> "Create commits for the search feature"

🐛 2. Debugging Workflow

Systematic Debugging Process

graph TD
    A[Reproduce Issue] --> B[Gather Information]
    B --> C[Form Hypothesis]
    C --> D[Test Hypothesis]
    D --> E{Fixed?}
    E -->|No| C
    E -->|Yes| F[Verify & Document]

Step 1: Reproduce and Isolate

# Describe the issue
claude> "Users report the checkout button sometimes doesn't work. Let me investigate"
 
# Reproduce
claude> "Run the checkout flow and look for issues"
 
# Isolate
claude> "Create a minimal test case that reproduces the checkout button issue"

Step 2: Gather Diagnostic Information

# Analyze error logs
claude> "Check the error logs for checkout-related issues"
 
# Examine code
claude> "Review the checkout button click handler and related code"
 
# Check recent changes
claude> "What recent commits touched the checkout functionality?"

Step 3: AI-Assisted Analysis

# Stack trace analysis
claude> "Analyze this stack trace: [paste trace]"
 
# Pattern recognition
claude> "Are there patterns in when this checkout issue occurs?"
 
# Root cause analysis
claude> "Based on the evidence, what's the most likely cause?"

Step 4: Implement and Verify Fix

# Fix the issue
claude> "Implement a fix for the race condition in checkout"
 
# Add regression test
claude> "Write a test that would have caught this issue"
 
# Verify comprehensively
claude> "Run all checkout-related tests to ensure nothing broke"

Debugging Example: Memory Leak

# Initial report
claude> "The app becomes slow after extended use. Investigate potential memory leaks"
 
# Gather information
claude> "Add memory profiling to track heap usage over time"
 
# Analyze patterns
claude> "Analyze these memory snapshots and identify growing objects"
 
# Claude identifies issue:
# "I found event listeners being added but not removed in the Modal component"
 
# Implement fix
claude> "Fix the memory leak by properly cleaning up event listeners"
 
# Verify
claude> "Add tests to ensure event listeners are properly cleaned up"

👀 3. Code Review Workflow

AI-Powered Code Reviews

Claude Code can perform thorough code reviews or assist you in reviewing others’ code:

Self-Review Before PR

# Comprehensive review
claude> "Review my changes for this feature branch"
 
# Claude checks for:
# - Logic errors
# - Performance issues
# - Security vulnerabilities
# - Code style consistency
# - Test coverage
# - Documentation completeness

Reviewing Others’ Code

# Review a PR
claude> "Review PR #456 and provide constructive feedback"
 
# Focus on specific aspects
claude> "Review this PR focusing on security implications"
 
# Generate review summary
claude> "Summarize the key issues found in this code review"

Code Review Checklist

// Claude automatically checks:
const codeReviewChecklist = {
  functionality: [
    "Does the code do what it's supposed to?",
    "Are edge cases handled?",
    "Is error handling appropriate?"
  ],
  performance: [
    "Are there any O(n²) operations that could be optimized?",
    "Is caching used appropriately?",
    "Are database queries efficient?"
  ],
  security: [
    "Is user input validated?",
    "Are SQL queries parameterized?",
    "Is sensitive data properly protected?"
  ],
  maintainability: [
    "Is the code self-documenting?",
    "Are functions single-purpose?",
    "Is there appropriate abstraction?"
  ],
  testing: [
    "Are there unit tests?",
    "Do tests cover edge cases?",
    "Are tests maintainable?"
  ]
}

Review Collaboration Example

# Initial review request
claude> "Review this authentication refactor PR"
 
# Claude's response:
"I've reviewed the authentication refactor. Here are my findings:
 
✅ Strengths:
- Good separation of concerns
- Comprehensive test coverage
- Clear error messages
 
⚠️ Concerns:
1. Missing rate limiting on login endpoint
2. Password reset tokens don't expire
3. No audit logging for auth events
 
🔧 Suggestions:
1. Add rate limiting using our standard middleware
2. Set 24-hour expiry on reset tokens
3. Log auth events to our audit system"
 
# Address feedback
claude> "Help me implement rate limiting for the login endpoint"

🔄 4. Refactoring Workflow

Safe Refactoring Process

graph LR
    A[Identify Code Smell] --> B[Write Tests]
    B --> C[Refactor Incrementally]
    C --> D[Verify Tests Pass]
    D --> E[Review Changes]

Step-by-Step Refactoring

# 1. Identify improvement opportunities
claude> "Analyze the UserService class for refactoring opportunities"
 
# 2. Ensure test coverage
claude> "Write comprehensive tests for UserService before refactoring"
 
# 3. Plan refactoring
claude> "Create a plan to refactor UserService following SOLID principles"
 
# 4. Execute incrementally
claude> "Let's start by extracting the email validation logic"
claude> "Now separate the data access logic into a repository"
 
# 5. Verify and optimize
claude> "Run all tests and check for performance regressions"

Refactoring Example: Legacy API

# Identify issues
claude> "Review our legacy payment API for modernization opportunities"
 
# Claude identifies:
# - Callback hell → Convert to async/await
# - No error types → Add typed errors
# - Mixed concerns → Separate layers
# - No tests → Add comprehensive tests
 
# Execute refactoring
claude> "First, let's add tests for the current payment flow"
claude> "Convert the callback-based code to async/await"
claude> "Extract payment validation into a separate service"
claude> "Add TypeScript types for all payment operations"
 
# Verify
claude> "Compare the old and new implementations for behavior differences"

📊 5. Performance Optimization Workflow

Performance Analysis Process

# 1. Measure baseline
claude> "Add performance monitoring to the product listing page"
 
# 2. Identify bottlenecks
claude> "Analyze the performance traces and identify slow operations"
 
# 3. Optimize systematically
claude> "Optimize the identified database queries"
claude> "Implement caching for frequently accessed data"
 
# 4. Verify improvements
claude> "Run performance tests comparing before and after"

Optimization Example

# Initial issue
claude> "The dashboard takes 5+ seconds to load. Help me optimize it"
 
# Analysis
claude> "Profile the dashboard loading and identify bottlenecks"
 
# Claude finds:
# - N+1 queries in user data fetching
# - Unnecessary data in API responses
# - No pagination for large lists
# - Missing database indexes
 
# Implement fixes
claude> "Fix the N+1 query problem with eager loading"
claude> "Add pagination to the activity list"
claude> "Create a migration for the missing indexes"
 
# Result verification
claude> "Measure the dashboard load time after optimizations"
# Result: 5s → 0.8s

🚀 6. Deployment Workflow

Safe Deployment Process

# 1. Pre-deployment checks
claude> "Run our pre-deployment checklist"
 
# Checklist includes:
# - All tests passing
# - No console errors
# - Environment variables set
# - Database migrations ready
# - Rollback plan prepared
 
# 2. Create deployment PR
claude> "Create a deployment PR with all changes since last release"
 
# 3. Deploy to staging
claude> "Deploy to staging and run smoke tests"
 
# 4. Production deployment
claude> "Generate production deployment commands with rollback plan"

📝 7. Documentation Workflow

Intelligent Documentation

# Auto-generate docs
claude> "Generate API documentation for the new endpoints"
 
# Create user guides
claude> "Write a user guide for the new search feature"
 
# Update existing docs
claude> "Update all documentation affected by the authentication changes"
 
# Generate examples
claude> "Create code examples for using our new SDK"

🔁 8. Daily Standup Workflow

AI-Assisted Status Updates

# Morning standup prep
claude> "Summarize what I worked on yesterday based on my commits"
 
# Generate status
claude> "Create my standup update:
- Yesterday: [Summary of commits and closed issues]
- Today: [Next tasks based on project board]
- Blockers: [Any identified from error logs]"
 
# Plan the day
claude> "Based on the project priorities, what should I focus on today?"

💡 Best Practices for All Workflows

1. Start with Clear Intent

# Good
claude> "I need to add user authentication with email/password and OAuth"
 
# Better
claude> "I need to add authentication to our Next.js app using NextAuth.js, supporting email/password and Google OAuth, with role-based permissions"

2. Iterate and Refine

# First pass
claude> "Create a user profile component"
 
# Refine based on result
claude> "Add loading states and error handling to the profile component"
 
# Polish
claude> "Make the profile component responsive and accessible"

3. Leverage Context

# Establish context
claude> "We're building a SaaS dashboard with React and TypeScript"
 
# Future requests use this context
claude> "Add a billing page" # Claude knows to use React/TypeScript

4. Review and Verify

# Always review generated code
claude> "Explain the security implications of this implementation"
 
# Verify with tests
claude> "Write tests to verify this works correctly"

🎯 Quick Workflow Reference

Workflow	Key Commands	Best For
Feature Development	plan → implement → test → commit	New functionality
Debugging	reproduce → analyze → fix → test	Fixing issues
Code Review	/review or review PR #X	Quality assurance
Refactoring	analyze → test → refactor → verify	Code improvement
Performance	measure → identify → optimize → verify	Speed optimization
Documentation	generate → review → update	Maintaining docs

Next Steps

• Practice the Four-Phase Feature Development workflow on your next task
• Try AI-Assisted Debugging on a current bug
• Use Claude for your next Code Review
• Experiment with Refactoring a complex component

Related Resources

• Core Concepts - Understand Claude Code fundamentals
• Quick Start Guide - Get started quickly
• Deep Dive: The Hooks System - Customize workflows
• Essential: Hook Security Best Practices - Secure your custom hooks
• Advanced Workflows - Team collaboration patterns
• CLI Reference - Complete command reference