Reference
Prompt cheat sheet
The prompts you'll use most, in one place and grouped by what you're doing. Copy one, fill in the highlighted parts, and paste or dictate it to the agent.
On this page
Tap Add your details under any prompt once, and the highlighted parts fill in with your username, repo, name and email. Each prompt links to the page that explains it.
Start a session
Explain what this repo is and how its website is built, in plain English. Don't change anything.
Explained in Claude Code in the app.
Which folder are you working in? List what's in it, and don't change anything.
Explained in Trusted folders.
Read PROGRESS.md in your-username/your-repo and continue from what's next.
Explained in Make your own version.
Set the rules
Work only in your-username/your-repo. Treat the other repos as read-only reference.
Say it first in any session that has more than one repo. Explained in Many repos, one to work in.
Commit as Your Name <your-noreply-email>.
App path
In your-username/your-repo, set git user.name to "Your Name" and user.email to "your-noreply-email", and commit as me from now on. Add this rule to a CLAUDE.md file at the root of that repo (create it if needed) so every session follows it: Commit as Your Name <your-noreply-email>. Before your first commit in each session, set git user.name and user.email to these in this repo. Then commit and push to main.
VS Code path
Set my global git name to "Your Name" and email to "your-noreply-email".
Explained in Commit as yourself.
Work only in your-username/your-repo. Treat the other repos as read-only reference. Commit as Your Name <your-noreply-email>. Push finished work straight to main. Only use facts you can cite with a link, and mark anything you can't verify as TBD. Write these rules into a CLAUDE.md file at the root of my repo so every session follows them. Then commit and push to main.
Claude reads CLAUDE.md at the start of every session, so you don't have to repeat yourself. Using Codex? Say AGENTS.md instead of CLAUDE.md. Explained in Make your own version.
Build a whole site in one prompt
This is how history-of-indigo was made: an empty repo of yours, the starter selected as a reference, and one message. Replace the highlighted subject with yours. Explained in Make your own version.
Work only in your-username/your-repo. Treat the other repos as read-only reference. We want to do deep research and then publish a site in the same format as fritzhand/history-of-tampa in my repo, and publish it to a GitHub Page. It should cover the origins of indigo dye and how it spread across the globe, from ancient times to the present. Give a working source link for every fact and mark anything you can't verify as TBD. Don't copy the original author's photo, name or analytics tag. Commit as Your Name <your-noreply-email>. Commit and push to main.
Work only in your-username/your-repo. Treat the other repos as read-only reference. We want to do deep research and then publish a multi-page minisite in the same format as fritzhand/startup-india-guide in my repo, with the same sidebar, search and page layout, and publish it to a GitHub Page. It should cover the programs, funders, coworking spaces and events for new founders in my city. Give a working link for every entry and mark anything you can't verify as TBD. Don't copy the .github folder, the original author's photo and name, or the analytics ID. Commit as Your Name <your-noreply-email>. Commit and push to main.
Get a project
Look at fritzhand/history-of-tampa and tell me, in plain English, which files I'd change to make a history of my subject, and what I should delete first.
history-of-tampa works for any history: a city, an industry, a company, a movement or a topic like indigo. For a multi-page minisite with a sidebar on any subject, such as a directory, handbook or resource guide, swap in fritzhand/startup-india-guide and "a guide to" instead of "a history of". Explained in Pick a starter.
App path
A session reaches only the repos you picked, so Claude often can't fork or create a repo for you. Do that part yourself on GitHub: open the starter and click Fork, or create an empty repo at https://github.com/new (opens in a new tab). Then start a new session and pick your repo in the repository selector.
Work only in your-username/your-repo. Treat the other repos as read-only reference. Copy every file from fritzhand/history-of-tampa into my repo (not the .git folder), commit and push to main.
Send that in a session that has both your repo and the starter selected.
VS Code path
Open your Projects folder in VS Code, then send one of these:
Fork fritzhand/history-of-tampa into my account, with only the main branch, and name the fork your-repo. If you can't choose the fork's name, stop and tell me. Don't fork it under another name. Then clone it here.
Create a new public GitHub repository called your-repo and clone it here. Copy every file from https://github.com/fritzhand/history-of-tampa into it (not the .git folder), commit and push to main.
Create a new public GitHub repository called your-repo with a README and clone it here.
Clone https://github.com/your-username/your-repo into this folder.
Then open the new folder yourself with File → Open Folder…, trust it, and start a new conversation there, so the agent reads your repo's CLAUDE.md.
Explained in Clone, fork or copy and Repos: public or private.
Made a repo private by mistake? Visibility is a repo setting, so change it yourself: open the repo's Settings, scroll to the Danger Zone section, click Change visibility and make it public.
Make your-username/your-repo public.
Change your site
Research the history of St. Petersburg, Florida, for this site. Use real sources, such as archives, libraries, universities, government records and newspapers, and give a working link for every fact, date and number. Wikipedia can point you to sources but isn't one. List images only if they're public domain or openly licensed, with a credit line. Write everything to research/notes.md and mark anything you couldn't verify as TBD. Never invent a number, date or link. Don't change the site yet.
Put your own subject where it says St. Petersburg. Explained in Make your own version.
In your-username/your-repo, change the site title to "A History of St. Petersburg" and rewrite the opening section about St. Petersburg, Florida. Cite a link for every fact you add. Done means the opening section is about St. Petersburg, not Tampa.
Only use facts you can cite with a link. Mark anything you can't verify as TBD.
Explained in How to talk to the agent.
Add a section about the topic after the section it should follow. Research it first, give a working link for every fact, and mark anything you can't verify as TBD.
Add a photo of the subject to the section. Use only an image that's public domain or openly licensed, show its credit line under it, and tell me where you found it.
Change the site's colors to deep blue and sand. Keep the text easy to read in both light and dark mode.
Check every link on the site, fix or remove the broken ones, and list what you changed.
Explained in Update & share.
Everyday
Plan this first. Don't change anything until I say go.
Show me what you changed in plain English.
Undo that last change.
Explained in How to talk to the agent.
Commit and push to main.
Revert the last commit and push to main.
Show me the last 5 commits in plain English.
Pull the latest changes from GitHub first.
Explained in Commit & push.
Update PROGRESS.md in your-username/your-repo with what's done and what's next, then commit and push to main.
Explained in Make your own version.
Publish
Switching Pages on is a repo setting, and the agent can't change your repo's settings, so you do it yourself, once, on either path. Open https://github.com/your-username/your-repo/settings/pages, set Source to Deploy from a branch, choose main and the folder, / (root) or /docs, and click Save. Explained in Turn on GitHub Pages.
Turn on GitHub Pages for your-username/your-repo from the main branch, root folder (or /docs if the site lives in docs/), using the GitHub CLI, then tell me the URL.
Before you push, check my site for missing files, broken image paths and JavaScript errors, and tell me what you find.
Start a local preview of my site and give me the link.
Is my last commit pushed to main on GitHub? If not, push it to main.
Explained in Update & share.
Which branch is my work on? Get it onto main and push main.
Open a pull request from your branch into main of your-username/your-repo (my repo, not the original) and merge it.
Explained in The main branch.
When stuck
Here's the error: paste the exact error. Explain what went wrong in plain English and fix it.
Explained in How to talk to the agent.
Explain what you just did and why, in plain English. Don't change anything.
Give me two or three ways to fix this, with the pros and cons of each in plain English. Don't change anything until I choose.
Here's what I want: what done looks like. Here's the exact error: paste the exact error. Tell me what you think is wrong and your plan. Don't change anything until I say go.
Send that last one in a new session. Explained in Troubleshooting.
Which repo are you working in, and which files did you change?
Explained in Many repos, one to work in.
A rejected push, a merge conflict, a 404 page or a site with no styling each has its own fix in Troubleshooting.
Set up your computer
On the VS Code path you set up your computer once, at the start. Those prompts are on VS Code + your agent, Git, Node & GitHub CLI and Windows: allow scripts.
Saved only in this browser.