Getting Started with Claude-Craft

Welcome to Claude-Craft! This guide will help you understand what Claude-Craft is and get your first project up and running in just 5 minutes.

What is Claude-Craft?

Claude-Craft is a comprehensive framework for AI-assisted development with Claude Code. It provides:

125 Slash Commands - Quick actions across 15 namespaces for code generation, analysis, and quality checks
70 AI Agents (31 specialized + 39 infra on-demand) - Specialized assistants with optimized effort levels and persistent memory
11 Technology Stacks - From .NET/C# to Vue.js, with dedicated rules and agents
55 skills - Architecture, testing, security best practices
21 Templates - Ready-to-use code patterns for common components
10 Checklists - Quality gates for features, releases, and security audits
937 Test Suite - Comprehensive validation (vitest + bats)

Supported Technologies

Technology	Focus	Use Cases
.NET / C#	Clean Architecture + CQRS	APIs, Enterprise apps
Symfony	Clean Architecture + DDD	APIs, Web apps, Backend services
Flutter	BLoC Pattern	Mobile apps (iOS/Android)
Python	FastAPI + async/await	APIs, Data services, ML backends
React	Hooks + State Management	Web SPAs, Dashboards
React Native	Cross-platform Mobile	Mobile apps with JS
Angular	Signals + Standalone	Enterprise Web apps
Vue.js	Composition API + Pinia	Web SPAs, Progressive apps
Laravel	Clean Architecture + Actions	APIs, Web apps
PHP	PSR-12 + PHPStan	Libraries, Backend services
Docker	Infrastructure	Containerization, CI/CD

Supported Languages

All content is available in 5 languages:

English (en)
French (fr)
Spanish (es)
German (de)
Portuguese (pt)

Prerequisites

Required

Bash - Shell for running installation scripts
Claude Code - The AI coding assistant from Anthropic

Claude Code Compatibility

Version	Status
2.1.193	Recommended (full feature support)
2.1.97+	Minimum supported (CVE-2025-59536 patched)

Optional (Recommended)

yq - YAML processor for configuration files

bash

# macOS
brew install yq

# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt install yq

# Linux (snap)
sudo snap install yq

jq - JSON processor (for StatusLine tool)

bash

# macOS
brew install jq

# Linux
sudo apt install jq

Quick Installation

Method 1: Makefile (Recommended)

bash

# Clone Claude-Craft
git clone https://github.com/TheBeardedBearSAS/claude-craft.git
cd claude-craft

# Install for a Symfony project (in French)
make install-symfony TARGET=~/my-project RULES_LANG=fr

# Or for a Flutter project (in English)
make install-flutter TARGET=~/my-app RULES_LANG=en

Method 2: Direct Script

bash

# Navigate to Claude-Craft
cd claude-craft

# Run installation script
./Dev/scripts/install-symfony-rules.sh --lang=fr ~/my-project

Method 3: YAML Configuration (for Monorepos)

bash

# Create configuration file
cp claude-projects.yaml.example claude-projects.yaml

# Edit with your projects
nano claude-projects.yaml

# Install from configuration
make config-install CONFIG=claude-projects.yaml PROJECT=my-project

Your First Project in 5 Minutes

Let's create a new Symfony API project with French rules.

Step 1: Create Project Directory

bash

mkdir ~/my-api
cd ~/my-api
git init

Step 2: Install Claude-Craft Rules

bash

# From the claude-craft directory
make install-symfony TARGET=~/my-api RULES_LANG=fr

Step 3: Verify Installation

bash

ls -la ~/my-api/.claude/

You should see:

.claude/
├── CLAUDE.md           # Main configuration
├── .claudeignore       # Ignore patterns for context reduction
├── settings.json       # Optimized defaults with PostCompact hook
├── settings.local.json # Local permissions (wildcard patterns)
├── references/         # Technical references (since v8.7.1 — replaces rules/)
│   ├── base/           # Universal principles (SOLID, KISS, git, testing…)
│   └── symfony/        # Tech-specific reference + project-context.md
├── agents/             # AI agents with effort/memory optimization
├── commands/           # Slash commands
│   ├── common/         # Transversal commands
│   └── symfony/        # Symfony-specific commands
├── templates/          # Code templates
└── checklists/         # Quality gates

Step 4: Configure Your Project Context

You can configure the project context interactively or manually:

Option A: Interactive (Recommended)

bash

cd ~/my-api && claude
# Then run:
/common:setup-project-context

Option B: Manual

bash

nano ~/my-api/.claude/references/symfony/project-context.md

Update these sections:

Project name and description
Technical stack details
Team conventions
Specific constraints

Step 5: Start Claude Code

bash

cd ~/my-api
claude

Now you can use all the installed commands and agents!

Understanding the Structure

References (`references/`)

Since v8.7.1, installs place guidance under references/ (not the old rules/). Two layers:

Location	Content
`references/base/`	Universal principles — workflow analysis, SOLID, KISS/DRY/YAGNI, git workflow, documentation, testing, security
`references/{tech}/`	Tech-specific reference — `architecture.md`, `coding-standards.md`, `quality-tools.md`, `testing.md`, `security.md`, and `project-context.md` (customize this!)

The richer rule taxonomy (workflow, architecture, SOLID, security, DDD, CQRS…) lives in .claude/rules/ of the claude-craft repo itself; a project install receives the distilled references/ layer.

Agents (`agents/`)

Agents are specialized AI personas you can invoke for specific tasks:

markdown

@api-designer Design the REST API for user management
@database-architect Create the schema for the Order aggregate
@symfony-reviewer Review my UserService implementation
@tdd-coach Help me write tests for the authentication flow

Commands (`commands/`)

Slash commands are quick actions:

bash

# Generate code
/symfony:generate-crud User

# Check quality
/symfony:check-compliance

# Analyze architecture
/common:architecture-decision

Templates (`templates/`)

Templates provide code patterns:

service.md - Service class template
value-object.md - Value Object template
aggregate-root.md - DDD Aggregate Root template
test-unit.md - Unit test template

Checklists (`checklists/`)

Quality gates for different scenarios:

feature-checklist.md - Before completing a feature
pre-commit.md - Before committing code
release.md - Before releasing
security-audit.md - Security review

Key Concepts

1. TDD Workflow

Claude-Craft enforces Test-Driven Development:

1. Analyze requirements
2. Write failing tests
3. Implement code
4. Refactor
5. Review

2. Clean Architecture

All technology stacks follow Clean Architecture principles:

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│           Presentation              │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│           Application               │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│             Domain                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│          Infrastructure             │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

3. Quality First

Every feature must pass quality gates:

80%+ test coverage
Static analysis passing
Security audit clear
Documentation updated

Automatic Optimizations (v8.7)

Claude-Craft now includes optimized defaults out of the box:

Installed automatically:

✓ .claudeignore to reduce context noise
✓ settings.json with PostCompact hook for context reinjection
✓ settings.local.json with wildcard permissions
✓ CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL=sonnet enforced for cost savings
✓ RTK --ultra-compact automatically patched during install

Optional: RTK Integration

For maximum CLI output reduction (60-90% savings):

bash

# In Claude Code, run the setup command
/common:setup-rtk

Expected savings: 55-65% overall token reduction with full RTK + optimizations. See the Setup Guide for details.

Next Steps

Now that you understand the basics, continue with:

Project Creation Guide - Detailed setup for different scenarios
Feature Development Guide - TDD workflow with agents and commands
Bug Fixing Guide - Diagnostic and regression testing workflow

Quick Reference

Common Commands

bash

# Installation
make install-{tech} TARGET=path RULES_LANG=xx

# List available options
make help

# Validate YAML config
make config-validate CONFIG=file.yaml

Useful Agents

Agent	Purpose
`@api-designer`	API design and documentation
`@database-architect`	Database schema design
`@tdd-coach`	Test writing assistance
`@{tech}-reviewer`	Code review for specific tech

Essential Commands

Command	Purpose
`/common:analyze-feature`	Analyze requirements
`/{tech}:generate-crud`	Generate CRUD code
`/{tech}:check-compliance`	Full quality audit
`/common:security-audit`	Security review

Next: Project Creation Guide →

Getting Started with Claude-Craft ​

What is Claude-Craft? ​

Supported Technologies ​

Supported Languages ​

Prerequisites ​

Required ​

Claude Code Compatibility ​

Optional (Recommended) ​

Quick Installation ​

Method 1: Makefile (Recommended) ​

Method 2: Direct Script ​

Method 3: YAML Configuration (for Monorepos) ​

Your First Project in 5 Minutes ​

Step 1: Create Project Directory ​

Step 2: Install Claude-Craft Rules ​

Step 3: Verify Installation ​

Step 4: Configure Your Project Context ​

Step 5: Start Claude Code ​

Understanding the Structure ​

References (references/) ​

Agents (agents/) ​

Commands (commands/) ​

Templates (templates/) ​

Checklists (checklists/) ​

Key Concepts ​

1. TDD Workflow ​

2. Clean Architecture ​

3. Quality First ​

Automatic Optimizations (v8.7) ​

Next Steps ​

Quick Reference ​

Common Commands ​

Useful Agents ​

Essential Commands ​

Getting Started with Claude-Craft

What is Claude-Craft?

Supported Technologies

Supported Languages

Prerequisites

Required

Claude Code Compatibility

Optional (Recommended)

Quick Installation

Method 1: Makefile (Recommended)

Method 2: Direct Script

Method 3: YAML Configuration (for Monorepos)

Your First Project in 5 Minutes

Step 1: Create Project Directory

Step 2: Install Claude-Craft Rules

Step 3: Verify Installation

Step 4: Configure Your Project Context

Step 5: Start Claude Code

Understanding the Structure

References (`references/`)

Agents (`agents/`)

Commands (`commands/`)

Templates (`templates/`)

Checklists (`checklists/`)

Key Concepts

1. TDD Workflow

2. Clean Architecture

3. Quality First

Automatic Optimizations (v8.7)

Next Steps

Quick Reference

Common Commands

Useful Agents

Essential Commands