Thirty plus production SaaS deliveries taught us a specific playbook. These are the practices that translate directly into fewer bugs, lower token bills and faster handoffs.
Updated: April 24, 2026
Before touching code, ask the agent to draft a plan as a checklist. Review the plan. Only then run the task. This one habit cuts wasted work by 40% on complex features.
Whenever you correct the agent on a convention, update CLAUDE.md immediately. Treat it as a living contract. A stale CLAUDE.md is worse than none.
Resist the urge to let the agent run for hours on `main`. Every vertical slice gets its own branch; every branch becomes a PR; every PR runs tests. This is how you stay shippable.
The agent is fast, not infallible. Review every diff with the same care you would give a mid-level engineer's PR. Your time here is what keeps production safe.
Only behind gates: green CI, required reviewers, branch protection. Never on a path that touches production without human approval.