Claude Code

Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool that operates directly in your terminal. Unlike traditional AI-assisted editors, Claude Code understands your entire project context, executes commands, edits files, and manages complex multi-step workflows autonomously — making it a natural fit for Forge development and deployment.

Why Choose Claude Code for Forge Development?

Agentic Terminal Workflow

Claude Code runs in your terminal alongside your existing tools. It reads your codebase, understands project structure, runs shell commands, and makes coordinated changes across multiple files — all through natural language conversation.

Deep Project Understanding

Claude Code analyses your entire project context including file structure, dependencies, configuration files like forgerc.txt and content.config.json, and Hammer templates to provide accurate, project-aware assistance.

Multi-File Orchestration

Complex tasks like refactoring templates, migrating content, or restructuring assets are handled as coordinated operations across your entire codebase rather than file-by-file edits.

Direct Deployment Integration

Claude Code can run Forge CLI commands directly, enabling a conversational deployment workflow — from building to deploying to monitoring — without leaving the terminal.

Getting Started with Claude Code + Forge

Step 1: Install Claude Code

Install Claude Code via npm:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Requires Node.js 18 or later.

Step 2: Set Up Your Forge Project

Navigate to your Forge project directory and start Claude Code:

cd your-forge-project
claude

Claude Code will automatically analyse your project structure, recognising Hammer templates, content files, includes, and configuration.

Project Configuration

For the best experience, create a CLAUDE.md file in your project root. This gives Claude Code persistent context about your project:

Project: My Forge Site
Stack: Hammer CMS, Forge hosting
Structure:

content/ — Markdown content files
templates/ — Hammer HTML templates
includes/ — Reusable HTML partials
assets/ — CSS, JS, images, fonts
Build/ — Compiled output (do not edit)

Deployment: GitHub sync via staging/main branches

Step 3: Configure Forge CLI Access

Ensure Claude Code can deploy by having Forge CLI installed and authenticated:

npm install -g @beachio/forge-cli
forge login

Using Claude Code with Forge

Content Development

Claude Code excels at working with Hammer CMS content workflows:

Creating Content Pages

Ask Claude Code to create new content pages with proper frontmatter, following your existing patterns:

"Create a new guide page about custom domain setup, following the same frontmatter structure as the other guide pages"

Bulk Content Operations

Handle large-scale content tasks that would be tedious manually:

"Convert all the h4 headings in the markdown files to HTML h4 tags for Hammer compatibility"

"Update the prev/next navigation links across all guide pages to include the new page"

Template and Include Management

Modifying Shared Components

Claude Code understands how includes propagate across your site:

"Update the footer copyright year and add a new link to the navigation"

"Add Google Analytics to the head include so it appears on every page"

Creating New Templates

"Create a new template for blog posts based on the existing guide template, but with a publish date and author field"

Deployment Workflows

Claude Code can manage your full deployment pipeline:

Build and Deploy

claude
commit these changes, push to staging, and deploy

Environment Management

"Push the current changes to staging for review, then once confirmed, merge staging into main for production"

Forge CLI Integration

Claude Code can run any Forge CLI command as part of a conversation:

"Show me the current site settings and bandwidth usage"

"Set up SSL and force HTTPS redirects on my site"

"Roll back to the previous version — the last deploy had a bug"

Project Configuration with CLAUDE.md

The CLAUDE.md file is Claude Code's project handbook. Place it in your project root with key information:

What to include:

• Project name and purpose
• Technology stack (Hammer, Forge, etc.)
• Directory structure and conventions
• Deployment workflow (branches, environments)
• Coding standards and patterns
• Common tasks and how to perform them

This file is read automatically when Claude Code starts, giving it immediate context about your project without needing to explain it each session.

Best Practices

Provide Clear Context

Claude Code works best when you describe the "what" and "why", not just the "how":

• Good: "We need to add a community forum link to the AI best practices page, replacing the inline form that's not styled correctly"
• Less effective: "Edit ai-best-practices.md"

Use for Multi-Step Tasks

Claude Code's agentic nature makes it ideal for tasks that span multiple files and steps:

• Refactoring includes across templates
• Migrating content from one format to another
• Setting up new content collections with config, templates, and sample content
• Coordinated updates to navigation, sidebars, and content simultaneously

Review Before Deploying

While Claude Code is capable of running deploy commands, always review changes before pushing to production:

• Use git diff to inspect changes
• Deploy to staging first
• Verify the build output in the Build/ directory

Combine with Other Tools

Claude Code complements IDE-based AI tools rather than replacing them:

• Use Cursor or VS Code for real-time editing with inline suggestions
• Use Claude Code for large refactors, migrations, and deployment workflows
• Use Forge CLI commands through Claude Code for site management

CI/CD Integration

Claude Code can be used in automated workflows alongside Forge CLI:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code @beachio/forge-cli
claude --message "Run the build, check for errors, and deploy to staging" --json

Comparison with Other AI Tools

Choose Claude Code if you want:

• Terminal-based agentic workflow with autonomous multi-step execution
• Deep project context understanding across your entire codebase
• Natural language deployment and site management
• Complex refactoring and migration tasks handled end-to-end

Combine with Cursor for:

• Real-time inline code suggestions while editing
• Visual diff reviews of AI-generated changes
• Interactive chat alongside your code

Combine with VS Code + Copilot for:

• Line-by-line AI completions during active coding
• Extension ecosystem for specialised tooling
• Team collaboration features

Ready to Start Building?

Claude Code's agentic approach combined with Forge's platform creates a powerful terminal-first development experience. Start building smarter today.

Install Claude Code

Compare with Cursor

AI Getting Started