Claude Code Best Practice (Claude Skill) — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

Plan-then-execute templates (no more 'just write the code')
Validation hook patterns to catch regressions
Postmortem and review templates
Refactor / migration checklists
Works across Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

ready

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-best-practice-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/shanraisshan/claude-code-best-practice",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-best-practice"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-best-practice-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/shanraisshan/claude-code-best-practice",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-best-practice"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-best-practice-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/shanraisshan/claude-code-best-practice",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-best-practice"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-best-practice-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/shanraisshan/claude-code-best-practice",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-best-practice"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "claude-best-practice-skill",
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/shanraisshan/claude-code-best-practice",
        "~/.claude/skills/claude-best-practice"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "claude-best-practice-skill": {
      "command": {
        "path": "git",
        "args": [
          "clone",
          "https://github.com/shanraisshan/claude-code-best-practice",
          "~/.claude/skills/claude-best-practice"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add claude-best-practice-skill -- git clone https://github.com/shanraisshan/claude-code-best-practice ~/.claude/skills/claude-best-practice

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use Claude Code Best Practice

Force a plan-then-execute flow on a non-trivial change

👤 Devs tired of agents diving in without thinking ⏱ ~30 min intermediate

When to use: The change touches >3 files or has unclear scope.

Flow

Plan

Use claude-best-practice. Write a plan for refactoring auth: scope, sequence, risks, rollback. Do not write code yet.✓ Copied

→ Plan document; no code
Critique

Critique your own plan as if you were the senior reviewer. What's missing?✓ Copied

→ Critique with concrete fixes
Execute

Now execute step 1 of the revised plan. Stop after that step.✓ Copied

→ Step 1 done; awaits sign-off

Outcome: Refactor that lands cleanly because it was thought through.

Pitfalls

Plan too abstract — Insist on file-level granularity in the plan

Run a postmortem after an incident with the agent's help

👤 On-call / SREs ⏱ ~45 min intermediate

When to use: Something went wrong and you have to write it up.

Flow

Gather

Use the postmortem template. Pull the timeline from /logs and recent commits.✓ Copied

→ Timeline auto-built
Five whys

Walk through five-whys on the root cause. Distinguish proximate from contributing.✓ Copied

→ Tiered causes
Action items

Generate action items with owners and due dates.✓ Copied

→ AI list owners flagged for review

Outcome: Postmortem doc that helps next time, not blame.

Pitfalls

Auto-assigned owners are wrong — Always review owner assignments before publishing

Combine with: filesystem

Use the migration checklist for a framework upgrade

👤 Devs on a major upgrade (e.g., React 18 → 19) ⏱ ~60 min intermediate

When to use: Migration spans many files; you want to not miss steps.

Flow

Adopt

Apply the migration template to React 18→19. Customize for our codebase.✓ Copied

→ Tailored checklist
Track

Walk through the checklist, marking done/blocked for each item.✓ Copied

→ Progress log

Outcome: No 'we forgot to update X' surprises post-migration.

Pitfalls

Checklist gets stale — Update for each major version; the skill provides the skeleton

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

claude-best-practice-skill + everything-claude-code-skill

Combine two opinionated kits — best-practice prompting + research-first defaults

Use claude-best-practice for plan-then-execute; everything-claude-code for research-first.✓ Copied

claude-best-practice-skill + filesystem

Persist plans and postmortems alongside code

Save the plan to /docs/plans/auth-refactor.md before executing.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call	Cost
make_plan	task description	Before any non-trivial change	tokens
critique_plan	plan	After plan, before execute	tokens
postmortem_draft	logs, commits, summary	After incidents	tokens

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: N/A
Tokens per call: Adds upfront cost (planning) but reduces redo loops
Monetary: Free
Tip: Skip the plan step on truly trivial changes

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Minimum scopes: Read access to logs/commits for postmortems

Credential storage: None

Data egress: None

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Plans are too generic

Provide concrete repo context; the skill anchors on whatever you give it

Conflicts with team's existing process

Adopt selectively — postmortem template alone is high-value

Alternatives

Claude Code Best Practice vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
everything-claude-code-skill	You want a fuller bundle (memory, security, instincts)	Bigger surface to learn
Hand-rolled CLAUDE.md rules	Highly bespoke workflows	More to maintain

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills