10 Must-Ask Questions for Claude Code Newbies, Answered Once and For All
A curated guide to the most frequent Claude Code questions—covering CLAUDE.md best practices, token-saving strategies, MCP setup, and more—backed by...
Last month, I invited readers to share their Claude Code challenges in a comment section, and received nearly 200 messages with recurring queries: How to write CLAUDE.md? Why is token usage so high? What is MCP? Instead of replying individually, I compiled these top 10 questions into a guide, using my half-year of hands-on experience to answer each clearly.
1. What is CLAUDE.md and how to write it?
CLAUDE.md acts as your project’s "onboarding manual" for Claude Code. It’s not mandatory, but skipping it means Claude has to read code and ask clarifying questions every time—wasting tokens and time. A good CLAUDE.md includes project intro (e.g., Spring Boot 3.2 + MyBatis-Plus + MySQL 8.0), common commands (start, test, build), code standards (camelCase naming, layered architecture), and known pitfalls (UTC time conversion for orders, HTTPS for payment callbacks).
Key tip: Keep it concise (100-200 lines). An 800-line file bloats the context window, defeating its purpose. In a 120k-line Java project test, CLAUDE.md cut token usage by half and reduced dialogue rounds from 3-4 to 1.
2. How to reduce token costs?
Normal usage costs $3-8/day, but some users spend $20 due to inefficiencies. Three fixes:
- Use /compact: Compress long conversations (e.g., 50k tokens to 8k, cutting cost from $0.3 to $0.05).
- Split tasks: Instead of refactoring an entire module, break it into small steps.
- Switch models: Use Sonnet ($3/M input tokens) for daily coding, Opus ($15/M input) for complex architecture.
3. What is MCP and how to configure it?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is Claude Code’s "USB interface"—enabling it to connect to databases, APIs, browsers, etc. Without MCP, it only accesses local files. Configure it via .claude/settings.json (add MCP servers like PostgreSQL or filesystem). Common issues: Node.js <18 or wrong paths (90% of failures).
Sources
- Unique Dong. "10 Must-Ask Questions for Claude Code Newbies, Answered Once and For All." CN Blogs. https://www.cnblogs.com/uniqueDong/p/21735092