Getting Started with Claude Code: A Beginner's Guide | Tutorials

Getting Started with Claude Code

1. Initialize Your Project

cd my-project
claude
/init

The /init command is designed as a starting point, not a finished product.

💡 PRO TIP

After running /init, you should:

Review the generated content for accuracy
Add workflow instructions Claude couldn't infer (like branch naming conventions)
Remove generic guidance that doesn't apply to your project
Commit the refined version to version control
You can use --dangerously-skip-permissions to skip the permissions check, but it's not recommended.

💡 PRO TIP

Use the # key during Claude Code sessions to add instructions you find yourself repeating—these additions accumulate into a CLAUDE.md that genuinely reflects your workflow. The file becomes part of Claude's system prompt for every conversation, so keeping it concise and accurate is more valuable than regenerating it.

2. Setup an MCP Server

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standardized server that allows Claude Code to interact with different codebases and development environments.

claude mcp add angular-docs npx -- angular-mcp-server
claude mcp add --transport http context7 https://mcp.context7.com/mcp

3. Configure Project Memory

Give some tips to Claude, like enforcing Tailwind 4. Ensure that project memory is the memory to be used (your project's CLAUDE.md).

4. Practical Example: Refactoring

Here's an example request you can make to Claude:

Reactivate HTML hot linking (language service IntelliSense) in the Angular 18 app while relaxing the strict template type checking, you should enable `strictTemplates` but selectively disable specific strictness flags in the `tsconfig.json`

The configuration would look like this:

{
  "angularCompilerOptions": {
    "strictTemplates": true,
    "strictNullInputTypes": false,
    "strictAttributeTypes": false,
    "strictSafeNavigationTypes": false
  }
}

This approach enables the Angular Language Service features (hot linking, autocomplete, navigation) while reducing the number of type-checking errors you'll encounter.

5. Create a Pull Request

Ask Claude to create a feature branch with the changes and a PR. Note: You need gh (GitHub CLI) installed locally:

brew install gh