Claude Code Template

A comprehensive template repository to jumpstart your Claude Code development workflow with best practices, skills, and project structure.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Use this template: Click "Use this template" button on GitHub
2. Clone your repository: git clone <your-repo-url>
3. Open in VS Code: Open the folder with Claude Code extension installed
4. Customize: Update .claude/CLAUDE.md with your project-specific instructions
5. Start coding: Begin your conversation with Claude Code

Need detailed setup instructions? See GETTING_STARTED.md for a comprehensive guide.

📁 Repository Structure

.
├── .claude/                    # Claude Code configuration
│   ├── CLAUDE.md              # Project-specific instructions for Claude
│   ├── PLAN.md                # Project plan and roadmap (optional)
│   └── skills/                # Custom skills for Claude
│       ├── SKILLS.md          # Skills overview
│       ├── SKILL_TEMPLATE.md  # Template for creating new skills
│       └── [skill-name]/      # Individual skill directories
│           └── SKILL.md       # Skill definition and instructions
├── .claude-plug-in/           # Claude plugins configuration
│   ├── README.md              # Plugin setup guide
│   └── marketplace.json       # Plugin marketplace configuration
├── src/                       # Your source code (customize as needed)
├── tests/                     # Test files
├── docs/                      # Project documentation
├── .gitignore                 # Git ignore rules
├── GETTING_STARTED.md         # Detailed setup guide
└── README.md                  # This file

🎯 What's Included

Claude Configuration

• CLAUDE.md: Central place for project-specific instructions that Claude Code reads automatically
• PLAN.md: Comprehensive project plan template with architecture, phases, and requirements
• Skills System: Modular, reusable instruction sets that Claude loads on-demand
• SKILL_TEMPLATE.md: Template for creating new skills with best practices

Example Skills

This template includes three production-ready skills:

• code-review: Comprehensive code review with quality, security, and performance checks
• testing: Generate tests with coverage analysis for unit, integration, and e2e
• documentation: Create technical docs, API documentation, and guides

Project Structure

• Clean, organized directory layout
• Example source code and test structure
• Gitignore configured for common development scenarios
• Comprehensive documentation and guides

🧠 Understanding Skills

A skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md file with:

• Frontmatter: Metadata (name, description) in YAML format
• Instructions: Detailed guidance for Claude below the frontmatter

How Skills Work

1. Load Time: Claude loads only skill names and descriptions at startup
2. Matching: Incoming requests are matched against descriptions using semantic matching
3. Confirmation: You get a confirmation prompt before Claude loads the full skill content
4. Priority: Enterprise → Personal → Project → Plugins (in case of name conflicts)

Managing Skills

• Add: Create a new directory with SKILL.md in .claude/skills/
• Update: Edit the SKILL.md file directly
• Remove: Delete the skill directory
• Apply Changes: Restart Claude Code for changes to take effect

🔧 Customization Guide

1. Update Project Instructions

Edit .claude/CLAUDE.md with your project-specific context:

• Tech stack and architecture
• Coding conventions and standards
• Project goals and constraints
• Important file locations

2. Create Your Project Plan (Optional but Recommended)

Edit .claude/PLAN.md to define your project roadmap:

• Project goals and success criteria
• Technical architecture and design decisions
• Development phases and milestones
• Feature requirements with acceptance criteria
• Coding standards and API design
• Security, performance, and deployment strategy

Why use a project plan?

• Gives Claude full context about your project
• Ensures consistent architectural decisions
• Tracks progress through development phases
• Serves as single source of truth for requirements

3. Create Custom Skills

Use the provided template to create skills for your common tasks:

1. Copy .claude/skills/SKILL_TEMPLATE.md as reference
2. Create your skill directory:

mkdir -p .claude/skills/my-skill

3. Create .claude/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md:

---
name: my-skill
description: Brief description for semantic matching
---

# Detailed instructions for Claude

Your detailed instructions here...

4. Configure Plugins

Update .claude-plug-in/marketplace.json if using Claude plugins

5. Adapt Project Structure

Modify the src/, tests/, docs/, and other directories to match your project needs

📚 Best Practices

1. Be Specific: Write clear, detailed instructions in CLAUDE.md
2. Plan Your Project: Use PLAN.md to document architecture and requirements
3. Modular Skills: Break complex workflows into focused skills
4. Good Descriptions: Skill descriptions should clearly indicate when they're relevant
5. Version Control: Commit your Claude configuration with your code
6. Documentation: Keep docs in sync with your Claude instructions
7. Iterate: Refine instructions based on what works best

🎓 Resources

• Getting Started Guide - Detailed setup instructions
• Project Plan Template - Comprehensive planning example
• Skills Guide - Complete guide to skills
• Examples & Workflows - Practical usage examples
• Skill Template - Create new skills
• Claude Code Documentation - Official docs