Tips, tricks, and lessons from building software.
Tips, tricks, and lessons from building software — a personal dev blog by Tommy.
Use @ File Mentions Instead of Copy-Paste
Type @ and a path to have Claude read the real file, so you never paste stale code or lose the surrounding context.
Drop into a Shell with ! Bash Mode
Start a line with ! to run a shell command yourself without leaving Claude, and the output stays in the conversation.
Interrupt and Redirect with Escape
The moment Claude heads the wrong way, hit Esc to stop it and steer, instead of waiting for a wrong answer to finish.
Rewind When Claude Goes Down the Wrong Path
When a session drifts off course, rewind to an earlier point and try again from there instead of untangling the mess.
Ask One-Off Questions Without Polluting History
Keep your working session focused by clearing or compacting context, so unrelated questions don't crowd out the task at hand.
Let Subagents Do the Investigating
Send a subagent off to search and investigate in its own context, then get back just the answer without cluttering your session.