CLAUDE CODE · CHEATSHEET A Anatomy of a Claude project Hover for context · click for the deep dive · ⌘K to search · share via URL hash. 01 · FILE MAP The .claude/ folder, fully mapped your-project/ Project root CLAUDE.md Project rules · < 200 lines CLAUDE.local.md Personal · gitignored .gitignore Ignores *.local.* + secrets .mcp.json MCP servers · root only .claude/ Where Claude looks first hooks/ Deterministic · fires every time PostToolUse.sh · SessionStart.sh · Stop.sh commands/ Slash commands · still works ship.md · review.md · deploy.md skills/ Canonical home · model-invokable SKILL.md auto-loaded by description match agents/ Subagents · isolated context code-reviewer · researcher · log-analyzer output-styles/ Custom response formats plugins/ 2026 first-class · /plugin:cmd rules/ Path-scoped · loads on glob statusline Bottom-bar display config settings.json Permissions · model · hooks settings.local.json Personal · gitignored 02 · ARCHITECTURE The 5-layer agent stack L1 CLAUDE.md · Memory Architecture, naming, tests, repo map. Always loaded · the agent's constitution. CLAUDE.md L2 SKILLS · Knowledge Description-matched, auto-invoked, modular. On-demand · not always-on. skills/SKILL.md L3 HOOKS · Guardrails PreToolUse · PostToolUse · SessionStart · Stop. Deterministic · cannot be ignored. hooks/*.sh L4 SUBAGENTS · Isolation Own context, own tools, own model. Delegate only · results only · no recursion. agents/*.md L5 PLUGINS · Distribution Bundle skills + agents + hooks + commands. Like npm packages for agent capabilities. plugins/*/ EXTERNAL MCP SERVERS github postgres playwright filesystem slack custom … Defined in .mcp.json Available to all layers as tools DECISION HELPER Skills · Rules · Commands — when to use what Skill auto-load by description · Rule auto-load by file path · Command user-triggered with / CLICK → 03 · LIFECYCLE A turn, from session start to stop hook 1 SessionStart 2 Load CLAUDE.md 3 Scan skills 4 User prompt 5 Pre/PostToolUse 6 Response 7 Stop hook click any step for details CORE TRUTH CLAUDE.md is advisory · Hooks are deterministic · Skills load on demand · Subagents isolate context · Plugins ship the lot A · Anatomy
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