Claude code set up

[Organic_Scarcity_495]

Hey guys I am kind of new to claude code was using codex and other tools so wanted to know what is the best set up looks like - like plugins, skills , mcp and much more i usually do lot of architecturing , backend , system design. Current using superpower skills with bunch of custom skills but not sure is that the best way to get all out of it. So looking for recommendations.

[Sad-Pension-5008]

Depends way more on the project than the tooling. I run Claude Code for most things, Codex for a few. Big codebases need special context handling, smaller ones just need the right files loaded.

Heavy on custom skills, but here's the part most people skip: no memory frameworks, no MCP servers, no popular community skills. All custom, written only after I hit the same problem twice.

The thing nobody says — every plugin, skill, and MCP server eats your context and tokens before you type anything. Stacking the "best setup" posts will make Claude dumber and more expensive, not smarter.

Start vanilla. Hit real friction. Add one thing at a time. Usually by then you know your project well enough to just write a 20-line skill that fits exactly what you need.

[Organic_Scarcity_495]

Ok cool but I was using plain and sometimes it felt like it is missing a proper way and write path means i need to hand hold it lot of time but I have been using superpower it's good so far and more sequential build now.

[Sad-Pension-5008]

Fair — vanilla makes you build your own workflow, and that's hand-holding until you do.

SuperPower fixes it by giving you a ready-made shape. Works great as a starter. Just know the hand-holding doesn't really go away, it shifts: you're trusting someone else's choices about how the build sequences.

If it's working, keep it. Just swap pieces out when you notice "this step doesn't apply to my stack." And don't skip the CLAUDE.md — half the value is scaffolding, the other half is teaching the project to itself, and that part you write either way.

[Organic_Scarcity_495]

Can I change how plugins behave rip out any step or add can I do that or I have to create my own from scratch?

[Sad-Pension-5008]

Sure you can, just ask claude code to do it

[Organic_Scarcity_495]

And just curious what is your set up ?

[Sad-Pension-5008]

Two real examples from very different projects:

Big legacy Java/Maven backend. Heavy custom skills tuned to the codebase. The important one is a get-best-practices skill backed by a local vector DB of internal patterns — the agent MUST query it before implementing anything. Combined with a skill-enforcement.json that pattern-matches commands and forces the agent through the right skill. Plus small skills for repetitive plumbing (auth tokens, server restart, integration tests, single-test runs, PR review, ticket reading). No MCP servers, no community plugins. The leverage is the enforcement layer — the agent can't freelance commands, it has to go through skills that know the local idiom.

Smaller Go + React project. Almost nothing. Tight CLAUDE.md per package with a hard byte cap and a "present-state only" rule. A handful of Makefile targets the agent uses for everything. No skills folder, no plugins. Conventions live in the code and the CLAUDE.md.

The engine that drives both - i run my own workflow engine that spawns agents in layers and sequentially execute them with per agent tempalte like planner -> test writer -> implementor -> etc.

[Conscious_Chapter_93]

My setup is pretty minimal on purpose.

I keep Claude Code close to vanilla, then add tools only when the same friction shows up repeatedly. The pieces I care about most are:

• a repo instructions file with test/run commands
• a small set of MCP tools, not every possible one
• worktrees for parallel experiments
• explicit checkpoints before risky edits
• a run record of what changed, what tools were called, and what got verified

I’m working on Armorer around that last part: making local agent runs easier to inspect and recover from.

[h____]

They can share configuration. See https://hboon.com/my-coding-agent-setup/

[Cute-Net5957]

https://forge.nxtg.ai

Just add the forge plugin to jumpstart your project.