Advanced Workflow Mechanics

Master complex development workflows with Claude Code's advanced features for reasoning, context management, and automation.

UltraThink Reasoning Mode

Enhanced reasoning capabilities for complex problem solving.

Activation

# Enable UltraThink for current session
claude-code --ultra-think

# Enable for specific queries
claude-code --think-mode=ultra "Design a microservices architecture"

Reasoning Patterns

Multi-Perspective Analysis

You: How should we handle user authentication?

UltraThink: Analyzing authentication approaches...

Security Perspective:
- JWT tokens provide stateless auth
- OAuth2 for third-party integration
- MFA for sensitive operations

Performance Perspective:
- Token validation overhead
- Session storage considerations
- Caching strategies

Developer Experience Perspective:
- Simple integration APIs
- Clear error messages
- Debugging capabilities

Recommendation: JWT + OAuth2 hybrid approach

Step-by-Step Problem Solving

You: Our API is slow under load

UltraThink: Breaking down performance analysis...

Step 1: Identify bottlenecks
- Database query patterns
- Network latency
- CPU utilization

Step 2: Measure impact
- Response time metrics
- Throughput analysis
- Error rate tracking

Step 3: Optimization strategies
- Query optimization
- Caching layers
- Load balancing

Step 4: Implementation plan
- Priority-based rollout
- A/B testing approach
- Rollback procedures

Reasoning Modes

Deep Analysis Mode

claude-code --think-mode=deep "Analyze this codebase architecture"

Provides:

Comprehensive system analysis
Architecture pattern identification
Technical debt assessment
Improvement recommendations

Fast Decision Mode

claude-code --think-mode=fast "Choose between React and Vue"

Provides:

Quick comparative analysis
Pros/cons summary
Contextual recommendations

Context Window Optimization

Intelligent Context Management

Claude Code automatically optimizes context usage:

Session Context (8k tokens):
├── Current conversation (2k tokens)
├── Relevant file contents (3k tokens)
├── Project structure (1k tokens)
├── Recent changes (1k tokens)
└── Framework knowledge (1k tokens)

Context Strategies

Hierarchical Context

Level 1: Immediate context (current files, recent messages)
Level 2: Project context (structure, dependencies, configs)  
Level 3: Domain context (frameworks, patterns, best practices)
Level 4: Historical context (previous sessions, learnings)

Context Compression

# Enable context compression
claude-code --compress-context

# Manual context reset
claude-code --reset-context

# Context usage stats
claude-code --context-stats

Memory Management Strategies

Selective Memory

{
  "memory": {
    "retain": [
      "project-structure",
      "coding-conventions", 
      "team-preferences"
    ],
    "compress": [
      "detailed-implementations",
      "verbose-outputs"
    ],
    "discard": [
      "temporary-calculations",
      "debug-information"
    ]
  }
}

Session Continuity

# Save session state
claude-code --save-session my-project-work

# Resume session
claude-code --resume-session my-project-work

# List saved sessions
claude-code --list-sessions

Token Management Techniques

Efficient Tool Usage

Batch Operations

// Good: Batch file operations
const files = ['src/components/A.tsx', 'src/components/B.tsx'];
readMultipleFiles(files);

// Avoid: Individual operations
files.forEach(file => readFile(file));

Strategic Tool Selection

# For specific files: Use Read tool
claude-code read src/components/Button.tsx

# For pattern matching: Use Grep tool  
claude-code grep "useState" --type=tsx

# For open-ended search: Use Task tool
claude-code task "Find all authentication-related code"

Context-Aware Responses

Abbreviated Responses

{
  "response_style": {
    "verbosity": "minimal",
    "code_comments": false,
    "explanations": "on_request",
    "summaries": "brief"
  }
}

Progressive Disclosure

Initial Response: Brief solution outline
User Follow-up: Detailed implementation
User Request: Complete code examples

Workflow Automation Patterns

CI/CD Integration

# .github/workflows/claude-integration.yml
name: Claude Code Integration

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  claude-review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Run Claude Code Review
        run: |
          claude-code review \
            --agent=code-reviewer \
            --format=github-comments \
            --files=$(git diff --name-only)

Development Environment Setup

#!/bin/bash
# .claude/setup.sh

echo "🔧 Setting up development environment..."

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Setup database
docker-compose up -d postgres
npm run db:migrate

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env
echo "DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost/myapp" >> .env

# Setup git hooks
npx husky install
npx husky add .husky/pre-commit "claude-code hooks run pre-commit"

echo "✅ Environment ready"

Automated Code Review

{
  "workflows": {
    "code-review": {
      "trigger": "git-commit",
      "agents": ["code-reviewer", "security-auditor"],
      "checks": [
        "style-consistency",
        "security-vulnerabilities", 
        "performance-issues",
        "test-coverage"
      ],
      "reporting": {
        "format": "markdown",
        "destination": "review-comments.md"
      }
    }
  }
}

Performance Optimization Workflows

Automated Performance Testing

#!/bin/bash
# scripts/performance-test.sh

echo "🏃 Running performance tests..."

# Start application
npm run start:test &
APP_PID=$!

# Wait for startup
sleep 10

# Run load tests
npx autocannon http://localhost:3000 \
  --connections 100 \
  --duration 60 \
  --latency

# Performance regression check
npm run test:performance

# Cleanup
kill $APP_PID

Bundle Analysis

{
  "hooks": {
    "build-complete": [
      "npm run analyze-bundle",
      "check-bundle-size.sh",
      "generate-performance-report.sh"
    ]
  }
}

Complex Workflow Examples

Full Feature Development

# Multi-step feature development workflow
claude-code workflow run feature-development \
  --feature="user-notifications" \
  --agents="architect,test-engineer,reviewer" \
  --stages="design,implement,test,review,deploy"

Automated steps:

Design: Architecture agent creates system design
Implement: Code generation with best practices
Test: Test engineer creates comprehensive test suite
Review: Code reviewer validates implementation
Deploy: DevOps automator handles deployment

Microservice Development

#!/bin/bash
# workflows/microservice.sh

SERVICE_NAME="$1"
echo "🏗️ Creating microservice: $SERVICE_NAME"

# Generate service structure
claude-setup generate microservice \
  --name="$SERVICE_NAME" \
  --database=postgresql \
  --api=graphql

# Setup testing
claude-testing init \
  --framework=jest \
  --coverage=90 \
  --integration=true

# Configure deployment
claude-devops setup \
  --container=docker \
  --orchestration=kubernetes \
  --monitoring=prometheus

# Initialize repository
git init
git add .
git commit -m "feat: initialize $SERVICE_NAME microservice

🤖 Generated with Claude Code
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>"

echo "✅ Microservice $SERVICE_NAME ready for development"

Workflow Debugging

Debug Commands

# Debug workflow execution
claude-code workflow debug feature-development

# Workflow performance profiling
claude-code workflow profile --session-id=abc123

# Step-by-step execution
claude-code workflow run --step-mode feature-development

Workflow Logs

# View workflow logs
claude-code workflow logs

# Filter by workflow type
claude-code workflow logs --type=deployment

# Real-time monitoring
claude-code workflow logs --follow --level=debug

Custom Workflow Creation

Workflow Definition

// workflows/custom-deployment.ts
export const customDeployment = {
  name: 'custom-deployment',
  description: 'Custom deployment workflow for our stack',
  
  steps: [
    {
      name: 'pre-flight-checks',
      agent: 'devops-automator',
      task: 'Validate deployment readiness',
      required: true
    },
    {
      name: 'build-and-test',
      parallel: [
        { task: 'npm run build', timeout: 300000 },
        { task: 'npm run test:ci', timeout: 600000 }
      ]
    },
    {
      name: 'deploy',
      agent: 'deployment-specialist',
      task: 'Deploy to production environment',
      approval_required: true
    },
    {
      name: 'post-deployment',
      tasks: [
        'run smoke tests',
        'update monitoring dashboards',
        'notify stakeholders'
      ]
    }
  ]
};

Workflow Registration

# Register custom workflow
claude-code workflow register ./workflows/custom-deployment.ts

# List available workflows
claude-code workflow list

# Run custom workflow
claude-code workflow run custom-deployment

Best Practices

1. Workflow Design

Clear Stages: Define distinct workflow phases
Error Handling: Plan for failure scenarios
Rollback Procedures: Enable quick recovery
Monitoring: Track workflow execution

2. Context Management

Minimize Context: Only include relevant information
Session Planning: Structure conversations efficiently
Memory Optimization: Use appropriate retention policies

3. Performance

Parallel Execution: Run independent tasks concurrently
Caching: Cache expensive operations
Early Termination: Stop on critical failures
Resource Limits: Set appropriate timeouts

4. Team Collaboration

Shared Workflows: Standardize team processes
Documentation: Document custom workflows
Version Control: Track workflow changes
Training: Ensure team understanding

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Context Overflow: Reduce conversation length or reset context
Slow Workflows: Optimize expensive operations
Hook Failures: Check script permissions and dependencies
Memory Issues: Adjust retention policies

Performance Monitoring

# Workflow performance metrics
claude-code metrics workflows

# Context usage analysis
claude-code metrics context

# Hook execution times
claude-code metrics hooks

UltraThink Reasoning Mode​

Activation​

Reasoning Patterns​

Multi-Perspective Analysis​

Step-by-Step Problem Solving​

Reasoning Modes​

Deep Analysis Mode​

Fast Decision Mode​

Context Window Optimization​

Intelligent Context Management​

Context Strategies​

Hierarchical Context​

Context Compression​

Memory Management Strategies​

Selective Memory​

Session Continuity​

Token Management Techniques​

Efficient Tool Usage​

Batch Operations​

Strategic Tool Selection​

Context-Aware Responses​

Abbreviated Responses​

Progressive Disclosure​

Workflow Automation Patterns​

CI/CD Integration​

Development Environment Setup​

Automated Code Review​

Performance Optimization Workflows​

Automated Performance Testing​

Bundle Analysis​

Complex Workflow Examples​

Full Feature Development​

Microservice Development​

Workflow Debugging​

Debug Commands​

Workflow Logs​

Custom Workflow Creation​

Workflow Definition​

Workflow Registration​

Best Practices​

1. Workflow Design​

2. Context Management​

3. Performance​

4. Team Collaboration​

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

Performance Monitoring​

Next Steps​