I’ll be real: when Claude Code first dropped, I thought it was hype. Half the time it was impressive, and the other half it felt like that coworker who’s super enthusiastic but keeps pushing broken code to main. The problem wasn’t “Claude Code doesn’t work” — it was me giving it zero onboarding and zero structure, then expecting startup-grade output. In this video, I walk through the exact setup that flipped Claude Code from a cool toy into something I actually use to ship profitable AI apps. The workflow is simple but non-negotiable: I start every project with /init to generate a CLAUDE.md that acts like the brain of the codebase (stack, folder structure, routing, error handling, core flows). Then I save repeat instructions into memory (strict TypeScript, don’t add any, etc.) and I create slash commands via claude/commands so I can run consistent playbooks on demand. After that, plan mode (Shift+Tab) is what stops Claude from going feral — I make it design first, ask clarifying questions, list files, and outline tests before it touches code. From there I layer in /security-review, use “ultrathink” as my panic button for big bugs and architecture, and level everything up with MCPs (Playwright is my favorite) plus sub-agents defined as task specialists (testing, UI/UX review).