CC4E #8: Keeping Up with the Claude Code Treadmill (30 Tips & Tricks)

Author: Hannah Stulberg | Published: 2026-05-04

30 tips curated from 1,500+ hours of use. Don’t set up all 30 at once – pick the 2-3 that solve a problem you’re feeling right now.

Section 1: Make Cursor Feel Like Yours (Tips 1-5)

Pick a Cursor theme – browse built-in, install from marketplace, or have Claude build a custom one
Tame terminal panel – rename tabs, color-code, add icons, drag to reorder, split panes
Markdown editor extension – options: Mark Sharp (best feel, deletes images on save), Markdown Live Editor (preserves images, mangles formatting), Markdown Inline Editor (fades syntax), built-in preview (side-by-side, no inline editing)
Surface ~/.claude/ folder – add to workspace via File > Add Folder to Workspace
Build Cursor workspaces – group multiple folders; each maintains its own CLAUDE.md and context

Ctrl+O – live stream of every file opened, tool called, reasoning step. 10% higher success rate for experienced users
/context – breakdown of context usage by category (system prompt, tools, memory, MCPs, messages). Reveals bloated CLAUDE.md or context-heavy skills
claude-counter – Chrome extension adding live context bar on claude.ai
DeepWiki – swap “github.com” for “deepwiki.com” in any repo URL for auto-generated docs and architecture diagrams

Markdown is 1/3 to 1/2 the tokens of PDFs/Word docs and produces higher-quality output.

Google Workspace files as markdown – manual (download as .md) or automated via gws CLI
markitdown – Microsoft’s open-source tool. Converts PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint to markdown. Works on individual files or entire folders
Firecrawl – returns full page content as clean markdown (unlike WebFetch which returns a summary). Scrape URLs, crawl sites, map site URLs, deep research. Free tier: 500 pages

Tool	What it does	Best for
Claude in Chrome (Tip 13)	Reads/controls open Chrome tabs with your login state	Acting on apps you’re signed into
Playwright MCP (Tip 14)	Fresh browser, no inherited logins	Clean testing, cross-browser checks
Chrome DevTools MCP (Tip 15)	Inspects: performance traces, network, console, Lighthouse	Debugging, not acting

These give Claude browser control. Firecrawl gives Claude browser content.

/canvas-design – generate PNGs (diagrams, posters, explanatory visuals)
Image editing – resize, crop, convert, watermark, annotate, combine into PDFs
Mermaid diagrams – open-source diagramming language in markdown. Claude writes the code, preview renders it. Export to PNG via mermaid-cli for sharing
Local HTML files – quick visual previews, layout prototypes, interactive demos. Pair with Chrome extension for Claude to verify its own output

Terminal shortcuts – Option+arrow (jump word), Ctrl+A/E (start/end of line), Option+Backspace (delete word), Cmd+K (clear visible terminal)
/branch – creates parallel sub-sessions inheriting full parent context. Name original first with /rename
/btw – side questions without contaminating main session context
Caveman mode – compresses Claude’s output ~75%. Three levels: lite, full, ultra. Turn off for prose/docs
RTK (Rust Token Killer) – compresses Claude’s input (terminal output) by 60-90%. Install via brew. Pair with Caveman for compounding savings
/voice and Wispr Flow – three options: /voice (built-in, hold space), voice button in apps, Wispr Flow (system-wide paid dictation)
/loop – reruns a prompt on a schedule or self-paced. Use for: keeping Claude going on long plans, waiting for conditions then acting, variable-interval monitoring

Cloud sessions have MCPs and repo contents but NOT local MCPs, local CLIs, or user-level skills.

Claude mobile app – Code tab for cloud sessions. Requires files in GitHub. Edits stay on temp branch until PR
/teleport and /remote-control – teleport pulls cloud session to laptop; remote-control lets phone act as remote keyboard (laptop must stay awake: caffeinate -dims claude)
Claude Code Channels – text Claude via Telegram/Discord, responds from active laptop session. Requires --dangerously-skip-permissions

Custom thinking verbs – Claude cycles through ~185 verbs (“Pondering…”, “Cogitating…”). Customize via spinnerVerbs in ~/.claude/settings.json