Claude Code project starter

What it is

A starter folder for any repository you work on with Claude Code. It holds a CLAUDE.md to fill in, a project settings file with careful permissions and two slash commands, /plan-task and /review-changes. You stop writing the same setup in every project, and Claude Code is told to run your tests and linter before it calls a task done.

README.md
CLAUDE.md
.claude/settings.json
.claude/commands/plan-task.md
.claude/commands/review-changes.md

Who it suits

Developers who open Claude Code on more than one repository and keep writing the same setup by hand. Team leads get the most from it, since one committed copy makes every session on a shared codebase follow the same rules.

If you use Claude Code now and then on a scratch project, its defaults will do.

Where to use it

In any Git repository you open with Claude Code, from a weekend project to a team codebase.

• Claude Code: the settings file and the two commands follow its own formats
• Other AI tools: CLAUDE.md is plain Markdown, so its layout works as notes for them too
• Your team’s repository: commit it once and everyone starts the same way

How to set it up

Get it saves a zip in your downloads folder. Nothing in it runs by itself.

1. Unzip it, then copy CLAUDE.md and the .claude folder to the root of your repository.
2. Open CLAUDE.md and replace each line in angle brackets with your project’s facts, the commands first.
3. If you use pnpm, yarn or another runner, change the npm lines in .claude/settings.json.
4. Commit both files, so everyone on the project starts the same way.

The commands matter most, because Claude Code runs them to check its own work.

How to use it

Start Claude Code in the repository. It reads CLAUDE.md at the start of each session, so the project’s commands and rules are there before you type. Ask for a plan before a change, and a review before you commit.

/review-changes

1. You type /plan-task and a request
2. Claude Code reads the files it will likely touch
3. It plans one line per file and the checks that prove it
4. It stops and waits for your go-ahead

Example

You want a CSV export on the orders page and ask for the plan first.

/plan-task add a CSV export to the orders page

Claude Code names the files it read, then gives one line for each file it plans to change. It says which tests it will add or run, what a user would see and what it will leave alone. Then it stops. No file has been touched yet, so you can change the plan before it starts.

For newcomers and experts

If you are new. Claude Code reads a file called CLAUDE.md to learn how your project works. A settings file says what it may do without asking you. This kit gives you both, already laid out, plus two ready commands. Copy it into a small project, fill in only the test command, and try /plan-task on a tiny change.

For experts. The settings file uses Claude Code’s allow and deny lists, exactly as below. Anything outside the allow list still asks first. That friction is the trade, and you can widen the list per project as you come to trust the agent.

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Bash(git status)",
      "Bash(git diff:*)",
      "Bash(git log:*)",
      "Bash(npm test:*)",
      "Bash(npm run lint:*)"
    ],
    "deny": [
      "Read(./.env)",
      "Read(./.env.*)",
      "Read(./secrets/**)",
      "Bash(git push:*)",
      "Bash(rm -rf:*)"
    ]
  }
}

The two commands are prompt files under .claude/commands, each with a one-line description at the top. Review and edit them like code. /plan-task passes your words in as $ARGUMENTS.

CLAUDE.md starts with five working rules you can keep or change:

• Read the files a task names before changing anything
• Keep each change to what was asked, and mention other problems instead of fixing them
• Run the tests and the linter before calling a task done, and show what they printed
• Ask before adding a dependency, changing a public API or editing a database migration
• Never put keys or passwords in code or commits

Good to know

• Text only: no script and no key
• Allowed without asking: git status, reading diffs and logs, npm test and npm run lint
• Blocked: reading .env files and a secrets folder, git push and rm -rf
• Deny rules: a guard, not a sandbox, so keep keys out of the repository anyway
• On a Mac: Finder hides the .claude folder until you show hidden files