Chapter 08 · Power tools
Beyond the terminal
Claude Code can keep working while you sleep, run in your browser, and live inside your team's review process. A tour of everything outside the chat box.
Routines: work on a schedule
A routine is a task that runs in the cloud on a timer, laptop closed. Describe the task and the schedule with /schedule:
Manage routines at claude.ai/code/routines. For repeating something within a session instead, there's /loop ("check the deploy every 5 minutes").
Background work
Long task, but you need your terminal back? /background detaches the session and it keeps going; check on it later. Long commands (like a slow test suite) can run in the background too, and Claude gets notified when they finish.
The same Claude, four other places
🌐 On the web
claude.ai/code runs sessions on Anthropic's computers. Start work from any browser, even your phone, no setup.
🖥 Desktop app
A dedicated app for running several sessions side by side, each safely isolated in its own copy of your project.
🐙 GitHub
Type @claude in a pull request comment and it reviews, fixes, or explains, right there. Teams also wire it into CI.
⚙ Scripts (headless)
claude -p "question" answers once and exits: Claude as an ingredient in your own automations.
Settings that stick
Everything configurable lives in /config (or plain files under .claude/). The two worth knowing early:
- Permission allowlist —
/permissionsshows what runs without asking. Chose "don't ask again" too eagerly? Undo it here. - Model choice —
/modelswitches brains: Haiku is fastest and cheapest, Sonnet the daily default, Opus and Fable the deep thinkers for hard problems./effortsets how long it reasons.
Settings files layer: your personal defaults (~/.claude/settings.json), then the project's (.claude/settings.json, shared with the team), then your private local tweaks. Closest to the project wins.
More power, one line each
| Command | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
/deep-research | Fans out web searches, cross-checks sources, returns a cited report: "compare the three biggest S&P 500 ETFs on fees and tracking" |
/fork | A copy of your conversation goes off to handle a side task in parallel; the result comes back when ready |
/goal | Set a finish line ("the checks in checks.md all pass") and Claude keeps working until it truly holds |
/batch | A huge job ("update all 200 report files") gets split into pieces and run in parallel |
/advisor | A second model quietly reviews Claude's key decisions as it works |
/voice | Talk instead of type |
/chrome | Claude drives your actual Chrome browser: testing sites, filling forms, reading pages behind logins |
You now know the whole map. Chat in the terminal, teach with CLAUDE.md, package with skills, connect with MCP, guarantee with hooks, schedule with routines. Next: the habits that make it all go smoothly, then a gallery of ideas to steal.
/schedule every Friday 5pm: build my end-of-week portfolio
summary from data/ and leave it in reports/