Project Templates

Problem: Your fifteenth repo of the year starts the same way. Copy the last auth stack, re-wire the database, patch the tsconfig, wrestle the linter before a single commit lands.

Quick Win: Drop into any project folder and run /init to seed a fresh CLAUDE.md from your own conventions:

cd my-new-project
claude
/init

Claude scans the codebase, picks up on the file layout, and writes a CLAUDE.md that reflects the patterns it found plus the instructions your project needs. Two minutes and the project has a brain.

What Makes It Different

Other tools stop at finding templates. Claude Code reads them top to bottom. Every file gets parsed, the architecture gets mapped, and a walkthrough of how the pieces fit lands before a single edit.

Customization is where this pays off. Claude can:

• Clone and analyze a GitHub template from the terminal
• Explain the structure before any edit
• Swap technologies (Prisma to Supabase, REST to tRPC) with patterns preserved
• Store conventions in CLAUDE.md for future sessions to inherit

Forget "AI finds templates." This is a coding partner that reads source and rewrites it for you.

Start Every Project With /init

Every fresh Claude Code project should open with /init, a built-in command that writes a CLAUDE.md tuned to whatever codebase you point it at:

claude
/init

The scan walks the repo and drafts rules covering:

• Frameworks it detected and the conventions they ship with
• Build and test commands
• How your files are laid out
• Code style picked up from what's already in the repo

Pro tip: Edit the file and layer your own preferences on top. Claude loads it at every session start, so whatever lives there carries forward.

Clone, Customize, Commit

Here's what a template workflow looks like once Claude Code is in the loop:

# Step 1: Clone and understand
claude "clone https://github.com/example/nextjs-starter and explain its architecture"
 
# Step 2: Customize for your stack
claude "replace Prisma with Supabase, keep the same data patterns"
 
# Step 3: Save your conventions
claude "update CLAUDE.md with our new database setup and auth patterns"

Session context carries across all three steps, so step three still knows what step one looked at. No tab-flipping, no losing track of edits.

CLAUDE.md as Your Template Library

Over time, CLAUDE.md becomes your private template library. Add blocks for the patterns you reuse:

## Project Conventions
 
### API Routes
 
- All API routes in /app/api
- Use Zod for validation
- Return typed responses with ApiResponse<T>
 
### Database
 
- Supabase client in /lib/supabase
- Row-level security on all tables
- Migrations in /supabase/migrations

Say "add an API endpoint" and the answer comes back in your house style automatically, with zero re-explaining required.

When Things Go Wrong

"CLAUDE.md not found." Run /init, or drop the file at the repo root by hand.

Claude ignores the conventions. Make sure CLAUDE.md lives at the project root. Claude only picks it up from whatever directory launched the session.

Template has outdated dependencies. Put it on Claude:

claude "update all dependencies to latest stable versions and fix any breaking changes"

Extract Your Own Templates

Shipped something worth reusing? Convert it into a template of its own:

claude "extract the reusable patterns from this project into a template structure, document what each piece does in CLAUDE.md"

Claude finds the parts of the repo that generalize, scrubs the project-specific bits, and documents the rest.

Templates inside Claude Code live in a different mode: reading and adaptation, not search-and-pick.

Next steps:

• Run /init on whatever project is open right now
• Read the guide on Git Integration for version-controlling with Claude
• Work through Feedback Loops for fast iteration
• Pick up Efficiency Patterns to speed the rest of your workflow