Claude Code Setup Template

Personal template repository for consistent Claude Code configuration across projects. Includes security controls, permission management, and development guidelines.

🚀 Quick Start

Option 1: Automated Setup (Recommended)

Run the setup script from your new project directory:

# From the template repository
./setup.sh /path/to/project "Project Name" "TechStack"

# Or with PowerShell (Windows)
.\setup.ps1 -ProjectPath "C:\path\to\project" -ProjectName "My API Project" -TechStack "Node.js, Express, TypeScript"

Option 2: Manual Setup (5 minutes)

1. Copy template files to your project:

   cp CLAUDE.md /path/to/project/
   cp -r .claude /path/to/project/
   cp .gitignore.template /path/to/project/.gitignore

2. Customize CLAUDE.md with your project's:

   • Purpose and tech stack
   • Development commands (build, test, lint)
   • Architecture (if complex)

3. Test it: Ask Claude Code to do a simple task

Detailed instructions: See docs/SETUP.md | Checklist: See docs/CHECKLIST.md

📋 What This Provides

🔒 Security by Default

• Protected files: .env*, secrets, keys cannot be read/written
• Approval prompts: Asks before destructive operations (edit, delete, git push)
• File access restrictions: Automatic protection for sensitive patterns

📝 Consistent Conventions

• Semantic Versioning: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH versioning
• Git Flow: Branching strategy (main, develop, feature/*)
• Conventional Commits: Standardized commit message format
• Single-author commits: No CoAuthored commits

🎯 Quality Guidelines

Based on Andrej Karpathy's LLM coding principles:

1. Think Before Coding - State assumptions, surface tradeoffs
2. Simplicity First - Minimum code, no speculative features
3. Surgical Changes - Touch only what you must
4. Goal-Driven Execution - Define success criteria, verify results

⚙️ Permission Modes

Mode	Behavior	Best For
default	Prompts for writes/shell, no prompts for reads	Most projects (recommended)
acceptEdits	Auto-approves file edits, prompts for shell	High-volume editing, trusted projects
auto	Auto-approves most operations	Trusted projects, rapid prototyping
bypassPermissions	No prompts	Use with extreme caution

📁 Repository Structure

my-cc-setup/
├── CLAUDE.md                 # Main configuration + development guidelines
├── .claude/
│   └── settings.json         # Permission controls and modes
├── .gitignore.template       # Template .gitignore with security rules
├── setup.sh                  # Unix/Linux/macOS setup script
├── setup.ps1                 # Windows PowerShell setup script
├── docs/                     # Documentation
│   ├── SETUP.md              # Detailed setup instructions
│   ├── CHECKLIST.md          # New project checklist
│   ├── GLOBAL_SETUP.md       # Global configuration guide
│   ├── PROJECT_OVERRIDE.md   # Project-specific override guide
│   └── GITHUB_ABOUT.md       # GitHub repository setup
├── examples/                 # Tech stack examples
│   ├── CLAUDE.nodejs.md      # Node.js/Express/TypeScript example
│   ├── CLAUDE.python.md      # Django/Python example
│   └── CLAUDE.golang.md      # Go/Clean Architecture example
└── README.md                 # This file

🎯 Core Guidelines

Think Before Coding

• State assumptions explicitly
• Present multiple interpretations
• Push back when simpler approaches exist
• Stop when confused and ask questions

Simplicity First

• No features beyond what was asked
• No abstractions for single-use code
• If 200 lines could be 50, rewrite it

Surgical Changes

• Touch only what you must
• Don't improve unrelated code
• Clean up only your own mess

Goal-Driven Execution

• Define success criteria
• Loop until verified
• Write tests that reproduce bugs

🔐 Permission Examples

✅ No Prompt Needed

• Reading source code
• Searching with Grep/Glob
• Git status/log
• Read-only file operations

⚠️ Approval Required

• Editing files (Edit/Write tools)
• Running shell commands
• Git commits/pushes/merges
• Installing dependencies
• File deletion operations

🛡️ Never Allowed

• Reading .env files
• Writing to secrets/ directories
• Accessing private keys (*.pem, *.key)
• Modifying .ssh/ directories
• Reading .aws/ configurations

📖 Documentation

File	Purpose
docs/SETUP.md	Detailed setup instructions with troubleshooting
docs/CHECKLIST.md	Step-by-step checklist for new projects
docs/GLOBAL_SETUP.md	Global configuration guide
docs/PROJECT_OVERRIDE.md	Project-specific override guide
docs/GITHUB_ABOUT.md	GitHub repository setup
CLAUDE.md	Full development guidelines and conventions
examples/	Tech stack-specific templates

🛠 How to Use This Template

Automated Setup (Recommended)

Windows (PowerShell)

# Basic setup
.\setup.ps1 -ProjectPath "C:\Dev\my-new-project"

# With project details
.\setup.ps1 -ProjectPath "C:\Dev\my-api" -ProjectName "My REST API" -TechStack "Node.js, Express, TypeScript"

# Force overwrite existing files
.\setup.ps1 -ProjectPath "C:\Dev\my-api" -Force

Unix/Linux/macOS (Bash)

# Basic setup
./setup.sh /path/to/project

# With project details
./setup.sh /path/to/project "My REST API" "Node.js, Express, TypeScript"

# Force overwrite existing files
./setup.sh /path/to/project "My REST API" "Node.js, Express, TypeScript" --force

Script Parameters

• ProjectPath: Target project directory (default: current directory)
• ProjectName: Your project name (replaces placeholders in CLAUDE.md)
• TechStack: Technologies used (replaces placeholders in CLAUDE.md)
• -SkipGit: Skip git initialization
• -Force/--force: Overwrite existing files without prompting

Manual Setup

For more control, copy files manually:

# Copy core configuration
cp CLAUDE.md /path/to/project/
cp -r .claude /path/to/project/
cp .gitignore.template /path/to/project/.gitignore

Then edit CLAUDE.md to customize for your project.

🎨 Customization Examples

Add Development Commands

Edit CLAUDE.md to include your project's commands:

## Development Commands

### Building
```bash
npm run build        # Node.js
cargo build          # Rust
go build             # Go

Testing

npm test             # Node.js
cargo test           # Rust
go test ./...        # Go

Linting

npm run lint         # Node.js
cargo clippy         # Rust
golangci-lint run    # Go

### Add Architecture Documentation

For complex projects, add to CLAUDE.md:

```markdown
## Architecture

### Directory Structure

src/ ├── core/ # Core business logic ├── api/ # API handlers and routing ├── models/ # Data models and schemas └── utils/ # Shared utilities

### Key Patterns
- **Fat Models, Thin Views**: Business logic in models
- **Dependency Injection**: Used throughout
- **Repository Pattern**: Data access abstraction

🎓 Learn More

Key Concepts

• Semantic Versioning
• Git Flow
• Conventional Commits
• Karpathy's LLM Observations

Claude Code Resources

• Claude Code Documentation
• Claude Code GitHub
• Claude Code Issues

🔍 Troubleshooting

"Too many prompts"

• Change permission mode to acceptEdits in .claude/settings.json
• Auto-approves file edits, still prompts for shell commands

"Claude can't read my config"

• Check if file is in protected list (CLAUDE.md Security section)
• Move non-sensitive config to unprotected location
• Update CLAUDE.md security rules if needed

"Not enough prompts"

• Set permission mode to default
• Remove alwaysAllowShell: true if present

📦 License

Apache License 2.0 - Feel free to use and modify for your needs.

🤝 Contributing

This is a personal template. Feel free to fork and customize for your own workflow.

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Version: 1.0.0 | Last Updated: 2026-05-05 | Maintained: 0xPuncker