212 messages. 29 sessions. Zero lines of code written by hand. What a business consultant learned about turning an AI coding tool into a full operations platform.
Claude Code isn't just for writing software. Here are the five categories of real business work I run through it every week — no IDE required.
Not the way a developer uses it. This is the operational pattern of someone running client deliverables, not shipping code.
31 wrong approaches. 11 buggy code instances. 8 tool failures. Every mistake became a rule. Here's what I'd tell past me.
Browser automation is your biggest asset and your biggest liability. Chrome extension disconnections, unclickable UI elements, and MCP tool failures stalled or killed entire sessions. One Riverside video editing session was almost entirely wasted as the extension disconnected multiple times.
Verify the Chrome extension is connected before starting. If a tool fails twice consecutively, stop and refresh — don't let Claude retry 10 times. Break browser-dependent tasks into smaller sessions. Always have a fallback plan that doesn't require the browser.
Claude tries wrong approaches before the right one. This was the #1 friction source — 31 events. When an Excel add-in disappeared, Claude suggested several fixes that didn't apply before the simple cache clear that actually worked.
Make Claude state its planned approach before executing. The "plan-first" pattern — tell me your approach in 2-3 bullets, what tools you'll use, and what you won't do — catches bad plans before they waste 20 minutes.
API and service failures block entire sessions with no recovery. Facebook post creation and markdown-to-Word conversion both produced zero output due to repeated ECONNRESET errors. A Canva session failed triply: Canva AI errors, Chrome disconnection, and Google Apps Script failures.
Check connectivity before starting complex tasks. If two consecutive API errors occur, restart the session instead of retrying. Always have an offline or alternative workflow ready for deadline-critical work.
Claude removes or changes content you didn't ask it to touch. Table columns disappeared, presentation content was modified, and edits went beyond what was requested — requiring restoration work.
Add an explicit rule to your CLAUDE.md: "Never remove, delete, or modify content that wasn't explicitly requested." This single instruction dramatically reduces unwanted changes across all sessions.
Replit Agent interference derails deployments. When using Claude to control Replit via browser, Replit's own AI agent would intercept and interfere. URL link previews blocked text input fields. Simple git operations became multi-retry ordeals.
Disable Replit Agent before starting. Batch all Replit instructions into a single message instead of sending them piecemeal. Be aware of URL preview overlays blocking input fields and close them manually if needed.
These are the exact configurations, rules, and custom setups I now use. Copy what's useful, adapt the rest.
The #1 rule for anyone doing browser-heavy work. This alone saves hours of wasted retry loops.
Prevents Claude from removing or modifying things you didn't ask it to change.
Stops Claude from silently retrying broken connections. Saves you from waiting on sessions that will never complete.
Specific rules for working with Replit via browser automation.
Prevents Claude from silently falling back to inferior tools when video generation fails.
Keeps professional deliverables focused and US-specific unless told otherwise.
Reusable prompt workflows triggered by a single /command. If you have a process you repeat across sessions, turn it into a skill so Claude starts with the right context instead of guessing.
Forces Claude to present its approach before executing. Catches wrong approaches before they waste time. Boris Cherny's full pattern: plan mode → iterate until the plan is solid → then auto-accept edits and let Claude one-shot the execution.
Stage-gated workflow for tasks that span multiple web platforms.
Pre-flight checklist for any session involving browser automation.
Shell commands that auto-run at specific lifecycle events (pre-edit, post-edit, etc.). They catch errors automatically before they cascade into multi-step debugging sessions.
Runs type checking after every file edit for TypeScript projects. Catches errors before they compound.
Add to .claude/settings.jsonRun Claude non-interactively from scripts for batch operations. Perfect for repetitive tasks like organizing files, processing documents in bulk, or generating reports — no babysitting required.
Process an entire folder of documents with consistent review criteria and structured output.
Organize a folder of files into a logical structure automatically.
Three battle-tested prompts for the most common multi-step workflows. Paste them directly into Claude Code.
For any multi-step browser task. Builds in failure recovery, checkpointing, and automatic retry with alternative strategies.
For research-to-publish workflows. Stage-gated pipeline with approval checkpoints at every phase transition.
For AI video generation sessions. Generates multiple prompt variations, scores them against a rubric, and narrows to the best candidate.
Both run the same Claude agent underneath and both can automate browser tasks, manage files, and run multi-step workflows. The difference is in how much control you want vs. how quickly you want to get started. Here's how to choose.
You want deep customization — CLAUDE.md rules, custom slash commands (/plan-first, /multi-platform), and hooks that shape how Claude behaves across every session. Cowork doesn’t have this level of configuration.
You deploy websites or run code — Git, Replit, Vercel, and code execution happen natively on your host machine. Claude Code was built for this.
You need direct system access — Claude Code runs directly on your machine with full terminal access. No VM sandbox means faster execution and more flexibility.
You run complex multi-step workflows — Claude Code is more battle-tested and reliable on long, multi-step operations. Cowork can stall on very complex tasks.
You want to start fast — Cowork is the most approachable entry point for non-technical users. Same powerful agent, friendlier interface, zero configuration required.
Your work is file and document-centric — processing receipts into spreadsheets, organizing directories, synthesizing reports from multiple PDFs. Built-in Skills handle Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and PDF natively.
You want pre-built integrations — Slack, Canva, Figma, Box, and Clay plugins are ready out of the box. Browser automation is also available via the Claude in Chrome extension.
You prefer sandboxed safety — Cowork runs in an isolated VM by default, so it can only touch the folder you grant access to. Less risk of unintended changes to your system.
All of this data came from running the /insights command in Claude Code — a built-in feature that analyzes your usage patterns and gives you a personalized report.
What Claude actually does under the hood — overwhelmingly browser automation.
65% of sessions fully or mostly achieved their goals — despite heavy reliance on fragile browser automation.
Where time gets wasted. Wrong approaches dominate — Claude guessing wrong costs more than tools breaking.
Peak productivity happens in the evening. Launch tasks after dinner, review results before bed.