V4 is live → Read it on our website

This repo contains the older version of the Claude Code Mastery guide. The complete V4 guide (85% context reduction, agents, teleportation) is available on our website for the best reading experience.

The complete guide to maximizing Claude Code: Global CLAUDE.md, MCP Servers, Commands, Hooks, Skills, and Why Single-Purpose Chats Matter.

TL;DR: Your global ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md is a security gatekeeper AND project scaffolding blueprint. MCP servers extend Claude's capabilities. Custom commands automate workflows. Hooks enforce rules deterministically (where CLAUDE.md can fail). Skills package reusable expertise. And research shows mixing topics in a single chat causes 39% performance degradation.

• Quick Start
• The Guide
• Repository Contents
• Installation
• Contributing
• Sources

# Clone this repo
git clone https://github.com/TheDecipherist/claude-code-mastery.git
cd claude-code-mastery

# Copy hooks to your Claude config
mkdir -p ~/.claude/hooks
cp hooks/* ~/.claude/hooks/
chmod +x ~/.claude/hooks/*.sh

# Copy the settings template (review and customize first!)
cp templates/settings.json ~/.claude/settings.json

# Copy skills
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r skills/* ~/.claude/skills/

📱 Read V3 on GitHub Pages | 📄 View GUIDE.md (V3)

claude-code-mastery/
├── GUIDE.md                    # The complete guide
├── templates/
│   ├── global-claude.md        # ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md template
│   ├── project-claude.md       # ./CLAUDE.md starter
│   ├── settings.json           # Hook configuration template
│   └── .gitignore              # Recommended .gitignore
├── hooks/
│   ├── block-secrets.py        # PreToolUse: Block .env access
│   ├── block-dangerous-commands.sh  # PreToolUse: Block rm -rf, etc.
│   ├── end-of-turn.sh          # Stop: Quality gates
│   ├── after-edit.sh           # PostToolUse: Run formatters
│   └── notify.sh               # Notification: Desktop alerts
├── skills/
│   ├── commit-messages/        # Generate conventional commits
│   │   └── SKILL.md
│   └── security-audit/         # Security vulnerability checks
│       └── SKILL.md
└── commands/
    ├── new-project.md          # /new-project scaffold
    ├── security-check.md       # /security-check audit
    └── pre-commit.md           # /pre-commit quality gates

• Claude Code installed
• Python 3.8+ (for Python hooks)
• jq (for JSON parsing in shell hooks)

# Create hooks directory
mkdir -p ~/.claude/hooks

# Copy hook scripts
cp hooks/block-secrets.py ~/.claude/hooks/
cp hooks/block-dangerous-commands.sh ~/.claude/hooks/
cp hooks/end-of-turn.sh ~/.claude/hooks/

# Make shell scripts executable
chmod +x ~/.claude/hooks/*.sh

# If you don't have settings.json yet
cp templates/settings.json ~/.claude/settings.json

# If you already have settings.json, merge the hooks section manually

# Create skills directory
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills

# Copy skills
cp -r skills/* ~/.claude/skills/

# Copy template
cp templates/global-claude.md ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

# Customize with your details
$EDITOR ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

# Start Claude Code
claude

# Check hooks are loaded
/hooks

# Check skills are loaded
/skills

CLAUDE.md rules are suggestions. Hooks are enforcement.

CLAUDE.md saying "don't edit .env"
  → Parsed by LLM
  → Weighed against other context
  → Maybe followed

PreToolUse hook blocking .env edits
  → Always runs
  → Returns exit code 2
  → Operation blocked. Period.

Real-world example from a community member:

"My PreToolUse hook blocks Claude from accessing secrets (.env files) a few times per week. Claude does not respect CLAUDE.md rules very rigorously."

Research consistently shows topic mixing destroys accuracy:

Golden Rule: One Task, One Chat

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Add your hooks, skills, or improvements
4. Submit a PR with description

• More language-specific hooks (Go, Rust, Ruby)
• Additional skills (code review, documentation, testing)
• Framework-specific scaffolding templates
• MCP server configuration examples

• Claude Code Best Practices — Anthropic
• Effective Context Engineering — Anthropic
• Agent Skills — Claude Code Docs
• Hooks Reference — Claude Code Docs

• LLMs Get Lost In Multi-Turn Conversation — arXiv
• Context Rot Research — Chroma
• Claude Loads Secrets Without Permission — Knostic

• Claude Code Hooks: Guardrails That Actually Work
• Claude Code Hooks Mastery
• Claude Code Security Best Practices

MIT License - See LICENSE

Built with ❤️ by TheDecipherist and the Claude Code community