Lesson 1.3: Commands and Planning

🎯 What You'll Learn: The essential commands that power users rely on daily + plan mode for complex tasks
⏱️ Time Required: 35 minutes
📦 What You'll Build: Personal command cheat sheet + plan mode experience

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Riley's Journey Continues

Riley has a working skill. Her Monday margin report now takes 18 minutes instead of 4 hours.

But she noticed something: she kept losing little pockets of time to friction. Re-explaining the same context after every break. Not knowing whether her skill was actually loaded. Forgetting the shortcuts that would speed things up.

💬 "The automation itself was great, but I kept fumbling around it, re-explaining things Claude should already know, wondering if my skill was even active. There had to be a smoother way to work."
— Riley Harper

This lesson teaches Riley (and you):

⌨️ The 5 commands that eliminate friction

🧠 Plan mode for tackling complex tasks

🚀 Habits that compound into massive efficiency gains

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What We're Building in This Lesson

These 5 commands + plan mode = the difference between dabbling and actually being productive.

In this lesson:

Why commands matter (car controls analogy)

The 5 essential commands

Plan mode: what it is and when to use it

Live demo of commands in action

Building your personal workflow

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The 6 Essential Commands

Think of these like the controls in a car. You COULD drive knowing only gas and brake. But once you learn cruise control, mirrors, and turn signals... driving becomes second nature.

💡 /clear vs /compact: /clear wipes the conversation for a fresh start, use it when you switch to a new task. /compact keeps the thread but summarises it so there's room to keep going, use it when a session you're still working on starts to feel slow. Type /context any time to see how full your context window is, which tells you when it's worth compacting or clearing. (Claude also compacts automatically when the conversation gets very long.)

💡 Two more handy moves (keys, not commands): press Esc to interrupt Claude mid-action if it's heading the wrong way, and start a line with # to quickly save something to memory (e.g. # Always use UK date format) without stopping to edit a file.

Riley's Daily Pattern

Morning routine:
1. /clear          ← Fresh start
2. /skills         ← Verify my skills loaded
3. [Start working] ← Smooth sailing

💬 "I run /clear at the start of every day and every new task. It's like clearing your desk before starting work. Sounds small, but it prevents so many weird issues."

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Plan Mode: Your Secret Weapon

What is it?

Plan mode makes Claude THINK before acting. Instead of immediately doing something, Claude:

Explores the situation

Considers approaches

Creates a step-by-step plan

Waits for YOUR approval

Then implements

How to activate:

Press Shift+Tab before submitting your message

When to use:

Riley's rule:

💬 "If I feel even slightly nervous about what Claude might do, I use plan mode. It's never wrong to plan. It's often wrong to skip planning."

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Exercise: Master Commands + Plan Mode

⏱️ Total Time: 35 minutes

What You'll Build

📋 A personal command cheat sheet + firsthand experience with plan mode

Before You Start

You'll need:

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Step 1: Practice Each Command

⏱️ Time: 15 minutes

Go through each command, one by one:

Command 1: /clear

/clear

What happens: Context resets. Fresh start.

Try it: Run it now. Notice the clean slate.

Riley's habit: "New task? /clear first. Always."

✅ Practiced /clear

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Command 2: /skills

/skills

What happens: Shows currently loaded skills.

Try it: Your Lesson 1.2 skill should appear!

Variation:

/skills list

Shows ALL available skills, not just active ones.

✅ Practiced /skills

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Command 3: /memory

/memory

What happens: Shows the memory files Claude is loading, your CLAUDE.md files and any active project context.

Try it: Run it now. See what Claude already knows about your project. We'll build on this in Lesson 2.5.

💡 Pro Tip: If Claude seems to be missing context you've written down, /memory shows you exactly what it's reading (and what it might have missed).

✅ Practiced /memory

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Command 4: /init

/init

What happens: Creates a starter CLAUDE.md file.

Try it: Run it (you can delete the file after if you don't need it).

✅ Practiced /init

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Command 5: /help

/help

What happens: Shows all available commands.

Try it: Scan through. You don't need to memorize - just know this exists.

✅ Practiced /help

Success Check:

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Step 2: Create Your Cheat Sheet

⏱️ Time: 10 minutes

Create a reference document you'll actually use:

# My Claude Code Cheat Sheet

## Daily Commands
| Command | What | When |
|---------|------|------|
| /clear | Reset context | Start of new task |
| /compact | Summarise, keep working | Long session slowing down |
| /skills | Show my skills | Verify skill loaded |

## Occasional Commands
| Command | What | When |
|---------|------|------|
| /agents | View and manage your agents | After you build agents (Module 2) |
| /context | See how full your context window is | When a session feels slow, before /compact |
| /init | Create CLAUDE.md | New project |
| /help | All commands | When stuck |

## Plan Mode
- **Activate:** Shift+Tab before Enter
- **Use when:** Complex tasks, multiple files, uncertain
- **Skip when:** Simple, obvious, low-risk

## My Personal Notes
[Add your own observations as you learn]

Riley's additions:

💬 "I added a section for 'commands I always forget' - that's where I put less common ones as I discover them. My cheat sheet is a living document."

✅ Success Check:

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Step 3: Try Plan Mode

⏱️ Time: 10 minutes

Let's use plan mode on a real task.

Instructions:

Clear context:

   /clear
   

Think of an enhancement for your skill:

Add better error handling?

Include more examples?

Add a new section?

Improve formatting?

Type your request (don't submit yet):

   Enhance my [skill name] skill to [your improvement]
   

Activate plan mode:

Press Shift+Tab (you'll see an indicator)

Then press Enter

Review Claude's plan:

Does it understand what you want?

Does the approach make sense?

Would you modify anything?

Approve, request changes, or cancel

Riley's First Plan Mode Experience:

💬 "I asked Claude to add error handling to my margin report skill. In plan mode, it showed me exactly which sections it would modify and why. I caught that it was going to change something I wanted to keep. Without plan mode, I would've had to undo that change."

What to observe:

How Claude explores before acting

The structured plan it presents

Your ability to approve or redirect

✅ Success Check:

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Overall Success Criteria

By the end of this lesson, you should have:

Quick Self-Test:

What command starts a fresh context? → /clear

How do you check if your skill loaded? → /skills

How do you see what memory files Claude is reading? → /memory

How do you activate plan mode? → Shift+Tab before Enter

When should you use plan mode? → Complex tasks, multiple files, uncertainty

All four correct? You've got it!

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Troubleshooting

🔀 "Shift+Tab doesn't activate plan mode"

**Why this happens:** Key combination timing or terminal settings.

**Fix:**
1. Make sure to press Shift+Tab BEFORE typing Enter
2. Look for the plan mode indicator before submitting
3. If still not working, check terminal settings or try a different terminal

📋 "/skills doesn't show my skill"

**Why this happens:** Skill file not in correct location.

**Fix:**
1. Verify path: .claude/skills/your-name/SKILL.md
2. Check spelling (SKILL must be capitalized)
3. Make sure file was saved

🐢 "Plan mode feels slow"

**Why this happens:** Claude is actually thinking.

**Reality check:** This is normal for complex tasks. The time spent planning saves more time than it costs.

**Riley's take:** *"Plan mode adds 30 seconds upfront and saves 30 minutes of 'undo and redo.' Worth it."*

🤔 "I don't know when to use plan mode"

**Simple rule:**
- If it touches more than 2 files → plan mode
- If you're uncertain about approach → plan mode
- If mistakes would be annoying to fix → plan mode
- If it's a simple, obvious change → skip plan mode

**When in doubt, plan.** It's rarely wrong to plan.

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💡 Install your second skill: /automation-opportunity-finder

Remember the discovery conversation from Lesson 1.1? It now exists as a ready-to-install skill.

How to install it:
1. Go to github.com/mercedesperezcapilla-gif/claude-skills
2. Copy the skills/automation-opportunity-finder/SKILL.md file
3. Save it to .claude/skills/automation-opportunity-finder/SKILL.md on your machine
4. Run /skills, it should appear in the list
5. Run /automation-opportunity-finder, have the discovery conversation any time you want fresh ideas

This is lesson 1.2 made practical. You now know what a skill looks like, how to install one, and you have a genuinely useful tool for finding your next automation. Run it whenever you're looking for the next thing to build.

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You Did It!

You just leveled up from "using Claude Code" to "working efficiently with Claude Code."

Riley's transformation:

💬 "Before this lesson, I was clicking through prompts constantly. Now my workflow is smooth - /clear, /skills, go. And plan mode saved me from at least three 'oops' moments already. These aren't tricks. They're fundamentals."

What you've gained:

⚡ Faster workflow (fewer interruptions)

🧠 Smarter approach (plan before act)

📋 Personal reference (your cheat sheet)

💪 Confidence (you know the tools)

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💡 The pattern: Power users make /clear automatic and plan mode instinct. They don't decide whether to use them, they just do. That's what you're building toward.

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