Custom Commands | Claude Code Guide

Some prompts you'll type over and over. "Review the changes I made and suggest improvements." "Check all pages for broken links." "Create a new blog post with the standard template." Typing these every time is tedious. Custom commands let you save them. Instead of pasting a paragraph, you type `/review` or `/check-links` or `/new-post`. Same result, less typing. Think of them as recipes: write the instructions once, use them forever. ## Where Commands Live Custom commands are Markdown files in a `.claude/commands/` folder: ```text my-website/ .claude/ commands/ review.md check-links.md new-post.md index.html ... ``` Each `.md` file is one command. The filename (without `.md`) becomes the command name. So `review.md` becomes `/review`. Simple as that. You can also put commands in your home folder at `~/.claude/commands/`. Those are available in all your projects, not just one. ## Creating Your First Command Let's make a simple review command. Create this folder structure and file: You can ask Claude Code to do it: ```text Create a folder called .claude/commands/ and inside it create a file called review.md with this content: Review the most recent changes in this project. Check for: - Missing content or placeholder text - Broken links - Inconsistent styling - Anything that looks unfinished Give me a short summary of what looks good and what needs attention. ``` That's it. Now whenever you type `/review` in Claude Code, it runs that entire prompt. Same as if you'd typed it all out manually. ## Three Starter Commands Here are three commands worth creating right away: **review.md** - Quick project review ```text Review the current state of the project. Tell me what looks good and what needs work. Focus on things a visitor would notice. ``` **explain.md** - Understand what's in a file ```text Explain what $ARGUMENTS does in plain English. Assume I'm not a programmer. Focus on what it does, not how it works. ``` **organize.md** - Clean up the project ```text Look at the project structure and suggest improvements. Are there files in the wrong place? Naming inconsistencies? Anything that would confuse someone looking at this project for the first time? ``` ## The $ARGUMENTS Trick Notice the `$ARGUMENTS` in the explain command above. That's a placeholder. Whatever you type after the command name gets inserted there. So when you type: ```text /explain index.html ``` Claude sees: ```text Explain what index.html does in plain English. Assume I'm not a programmer. Focus on what it does, not how it works. ``` This makes commands flexible. One command, many uses. You could also write `/explain the CSS file` or `/explain the navigation section`. Whatever follows the command replaces `$ARGUMENTS`. ## Command Examples for Different Projects **Website project:** - `/preview` - "Describe what each page looks like right now" - `/mobile` - "Check if all pages look good on a phone-sized screen (under 640px wide)" - `/seo` - "Check every page for missing page titles and meta descriptions" **File organization project:** - `/status` - "How many files have been organized? How many are left?" - `/duplicates` - "Find any duplicate files (same name and size)" **Writing project:** - `/proofread` - "Check $ARGUMENTS for spelling, grammar, and awkward phrasing" - `/word-count` - "Count the words in each file and give me a summary" ## Naming Tips A few things to keep in mind when naming your commands: **Avoid generic names.** Claude Code has built-in commands like `/help`, `/clear`, `/init`. If you name yours the same, you might get confused about which one runs. Pick descriptive names like `/check-seo` instead of just `/check`. **Use prefixes for groups.** If you have many commands, prefixes help organize them. I use `a-` for my frequently-used ones (they sort to the top): `a-review.md`, `a-fix.md`, `a-create-blog.md`. Others use prefixes by category: `test-unit.md`, `test-integration.md`. **Lowercase and dashes.** Stick to lowercase letters, numbers, and dashes. No spaces, no special characters. `check-links.md` works. `Check Links.md` might cause problems. ## How I Use Commands I have 18 custom commands for my website project. Some I use daily, some weekly. A few examples: - `/a-review` runs a code review on recent changes - `/a-fix` investigates and fixes a specific bug I describe - `/a-create-blog` generates a complete blog post from a brief Each one saves me from typing a detailed prompt. The create-blog command alone is about 30 lines of instructions covering voice, formatting, SEO, and taxonomy. Without the command, I'd have to remember and type all of that every time. You won't need 18 commands for your first project. Start with one or two. Add more when you find yourself typing the same thing for the third time. That's the signal: if you've typed it three times, make it a command. ## Commands vs. CLAUDE.md Quick clarification since these are related: - **CLAUDE.md** = permanent context. Claude reads it automatically. "This project is a website, use dark colors, never delete content." - **Commands** = on-demand actions. You trigger them when needed. "Review the project," "create a new page," "check for problems." CLAUDE.md is background knowledge. Commands are foreground actions. You need both, but CLAUDE.md comes first. Commands are optional until you have repeating prompts worth saving. ## Beyond Commands: Skills Commands are great for getting started. But Claude Code also has something called **skills**, which take things further. Skills are like commands with superpowers: - They can include multiple files (templates, examples, scripts) - Claude can trigger them automatically when relevant - They support more configuration options If you find yourself building complex multi-step commands, skills might be worth exploring. But for most use cases, especially starting out, commands do everything you need. For the complete reference on commands and skills, see the [official documentation](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/skills). > Next up: rule files. For when your project has specific standards that go beyond what fits in CLAUDE.md.

Creating Reusable Claude Code Commands

Where Commands Live

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