7 Secrets for Claude Code with Opus 4.7 — From the Creator

The 7 Secrets Covered

• 1. CLAUDE.md as the ground truth. Anthropic engineers maintain a detailed CLAUDE.md in every project — architecture decisions, naming conventions, what NOT to do. Opus 4.7 follows CLAUDE.md more consistently than earlier versions. Treat it as the contract between you and your agent.
• 2. Sub-agents for parallel work. Use the --dangerously-skip-permissions flag only in sandboxed environments where you've already validated the task. For everything else, spin up sub-agents via the Agent tool to parallelize independent steps without sacrificing oversight.
• 3. Headless mode for automation. claude -p "task" runs Claude Code non-interactively. Pair with cron or a scheduled task for recurring jobs. Opus 4.7's lower hallucination rate on structured tasks makes headless mode significantly safer than on earlier models.
• 4. Compact before context runs out. Use /compact proactively — not when Claude starts forgetting things, but before you hit the limit. Opus 4.7 handles compaction better than 4.6 but still loses nuance on very deep sessions. Compact every 30–40 turns on complex projects.
• 5. Slash commands for repeatability. Custom slash commands in .claude/commands/ let you define repeatable workflows as first-class tools. Anthropic's internal team uses them for test runs, deploy checks, and code review passes — anything done more than twice should become a command.
• 6. MCP servers for real-world tool access. Opus 4.7 is significantly better at deciding when to call which tool versus earlier versions. Wire up the tools your project actually needs — database access, API clients, browser control — and let Opus decide when to use them rather than managing that logic yourself.
• 7. Trust the plan phase. Opus 4.7's extended thinking in plan mode catches significantly more edge cases before code is written. Give it time to plan, push back on the plan if something looks wrong, and only approve once the approach is solid. Rushing past the plan phase is the most common source of expensive mistakes.

Commands & Code Mentioned

# Non-interactive (headless) mode
claude -p "run the test suite and report failures"

# Compact context proactively
/compact

# Custom slash commands live here
.claude/commands/your-command.md

Related on OpenClawDatabase

• OpenClaw Configuration — CLAUDE.md patterns and project setup best practices
• OpenClaw Skills Guide — write reusable slash commands and skill files
• Claude Code Routines: 24/7 Agents — headless automation with scheduled routines