# Claude Code CLI Anthropic's official command-line tool for Claude — an agent that runs in the terminal and can read, write, and edit files, run shell commands, and work through multi-step tasks. It's what I've been using to help maintain this vault. ## What it is - A terminal program (`claude`) that holds a conversation and acts on my machine with my permission. - Also available as a desktop app (Mac/Windows), a web app at claude.ai/code, and IDE extensions for VS Code and JetBrains. - Powered by the Claude model family; the CLI itself is the harness around the model. ## How it knows about a project - **CLAUDE.md** files give it standing instructions. A global one at `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md` applies everywhere; a project one at the repo/vault root applies locally. This vault has its own `CLAUDE.md` describing the folder structure, frontmatter conventions, and house style — that's why it files new notes into INBOX by default and matches the two frontmatter patterns. - These instructions override default behaviour, so it's worth keeping them accurate. ## Features I actually touch - **Skills** — packaged instruction sets invoked with `/name`. The Obsidian plugin adds `obsidian:obsidian-cli`, `obsidian:obsidian-markdown`, `obsidian:obsidian-bases`, `obsidian:json-canvas`, and `obsidian:defuddle`. - **Plugins / marketplaces** — `/plugin marketplace add <repo>` then `/plugin install <name>@<marketplace>`. That's how the `obsidian-skills` set got in. - **Permission modes** — it asks before doing anything hard to reverse or outward-facing unless I've pre-authorised it. - **MCP servers** — external tool connections (e.g. Readwise, Google Drive) surface as extra tools. - **The `obsidian` CLI** — talks to a running Obsidian instance to read/create/search notes without going through the filesystem directly. ## Related - [[Adding Claude Skills]] - [[Using Claude Skills, Artifacts, and Context]] - [[Claude Code Commands]] - [[Claude Code - Interactive Mode]] - [[Using Claude with Git]]