Tidy your Claude setup
Any project you already work on with Claude.
What you get: A shorter, sharper CLAUDE.md and a ranked list of helpers, each with why.
Paste this into Claude Code, in your project
You are helping me improve a project that already exists. Today's goal is to make this project easier for Claude to get right first time. Work through the steps in order and explain each in a sentence of plain English. Apart from installing the tools listed below on a separate branch, never change anything until I have agreed to it.
1. **Understand the project.** Read the code and tell me in two sentences what it is and how it runs. Then ask me, in one message: which pages or parts matter most, who they are for, and the one thing I want those people to do. Wait for my answers.
2. **Work safely.** Check that git has no uncommitted changes (if it does, ask me what to do), and that git has a name and email set (if not, ask me and set them for this project only). Then switch to a branch called `improve/setup`, creating it if it doesn't exist, so everything can be undone.
3. **Install the tools**, for this project only, one line at a time. Plugins install their current version. If Claude Code refuses a line or a commit, tell me and show me the exact command so I can run it myself in a terminal, then carry on.
- `claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official.git --scope project && claude plugin install claude-code-setup@claude-plugins-official --scope project`: Suggests the hooks, skills and automations this project would benefit from.
- `claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official.git --scope project && claude plugin install claude-md-management@claude-plugins-official --scope project`: Audits `CLAUDE.md` and keeps it short and current.
If a `claude plugin` line says the `claude` command is not found (usual in the Claude desktop app), don't run the other `claude plugin` lines or hunt for the command, but still run every other line. Instead, add these entries to `.claude/settings.json`, keeping everything already there:
```json
{
"enabledPlugins": {
"claude-code-setup@claude-plugins-official": true,
"claude-md-management@claude-plugins-official": true
},
"extraKnownMarketplaces": {
"claude-plugins-official": {
"source": {
"source": "git",
"url": "https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official.git"
}
}
}
}
```
Commit the installed tools on the branch, so throwing the branch away removes them too (plugins also stay downloaded in Claude Code's own folder; remove one with `/plugin`).
After committing: if the plugins installed, tell me to restart Claude Code so this same conversation resumes (in a terminal, `claude --continue`; in the desktop app, reopen this session). If you only added them to `.claude/settings.json`, tell me to install each from the **+** button → **Plugins** (trusting the folder if asked), then reopen this session. Either way I'll type "continue from step 4". If I can't install them, carry on without them and say what we'll miss.
4. **Look before changing.** Review how this project is set up for Claude: audit `CLAUDE.md` and suggest the helpers worth adding. Use what the installed tools say about doing this well; if they are not installed yet, say so and review from the code. First, if you notice anything urgent outside today's goal (lost data, a broken feature, a password or key in the code), list it under "Urgent, outside today's goal"; if a key or password was ever committed, tell me to rotate it, because deleting it does not remove it from git history. Then give me the findings ranked by impact, the biggest first, each in one line with why it matters. Stop and ask which to do.
5. **Change in small batches.** Do only what I picked, a few changes at a time. For each batch, show me every change as before and after, and wait for me to accept or reject each one. Then run the project's check (as `CLAUDE.md` describes it now). If there is none, or something can only be checked by a person (looking at a page, a screenshot you cannot take, a speed test you cannot run), say so, measure what you can from the code, tell me exactly what to look at, and wait for my "looks good". If a fix needs something only I can choose (a service, an account, something that costs money), stop and lay out the options with their trade-offs instead of picking one. Only then commit the batch with a clear message.
6. **Hand over.** What I end up with: A shorter, sharper `CLAUDE.md` and a ranked list of helpers, each with why. Then tell me how to keep the changes (merge the `improve/setup` branch) or throw them away (delete it), with the exact commands.
How it was tested
A fresh Claude agent pasted the prompt into a sample project and followed it to the letter, as in the Claude desktop app, where the claude command isn't available, on a computer without Node.js. Without the plugins installed, it switched them on in settings, said what it would miss, and still sharpened CLAUDE.md: what matters, a data-safety rule, and a test that keeps old data files working. Step 3's wording was tidied since.
Did this prompt work? It worked · I got stuck Opens a public GitHub issue; never paste keys or personal details.
What it installs, and why
- plugin
claude-code-setup ↗
Suggests the hooks, skills and automations this project would benefit from.
by AnthropicSafety-scanned 5 Oct 2026 at d182ca4 · reviewed: safeLooks at your project and suggests helpers (hooks, skills, automations). It changes nothing unless you ask.
Works in: Chat · Cowork · Claude Codeclaude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official.git --scope project && claude plugin install claude-code-setup@claude-plugins-official --scope project - plugin
claude-md-management ↗
Audits
by AnthropicSafety-scanned 5 Oct 2026 at d182ca4 · scan cleanWorks in: Chat · Cowork · Claude CodeCLAUDE.mdand keeps it short and current.claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official.git --scope project && claude plugin install claude-md-management@claude-plugins-official --scope project